


ShadowStories

by sssssssim



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 06:46:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 49,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7212161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of drabbles set in the Shadowhunters TV universe.<br/>Mostly Malec. Maybe some Saphael. Alec/Clary brotp for sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alec/Magnus: That won't be necessary

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1: What happens when Maryse wants to call Magnus and Alec tells her it’s not necessary. Jace POV, after he comes back from his "vacation" with Valentine.

 

Jace was already awake when Maryse found him and ordered to round up everybody. That was code, for Maryse, that meant she wanted Izzy and Alec. Jace found Izzy, made her wake Alec up, and then he got Clary, because she was just as much of a shadowhunter as the rest of them.

Things were weird between them, still, but Jace was trying. He was trying to form a brotherly relationship with her… as he was trying not to think of her in the way he used to. It was weird.

But Clary appreciated him trying, that much was clear by the way she smiled at him when he knocked on her door.

Maryse threw Jace a pretty nasty look when he came into the office with Clary, but he ignored it. Izzy arrived pretty quickly after, dragging behind her a still half-asleep Alec. He was dressed for the day, but he was holding onto a cup of coffee for dear life. It was endearing, Jace couldn’t help but smile at his parabatai.

‘There was an attack last night’, Maryse started, never the one to beat around the bush, ‘on the vampires. One of them brought us the attacker’s corpse, because they didn’t know what to make of it.’

‘What does that mean?’, Jace asked.

‘We don’t know what it is’, Maryse said slowly. ‘The vampire who brought it in said it acted like a demon, but it doesn’t look like it.’

‘Another Forsaken?’, Izzy asked.

Maryse shook her head. ‘We don’t believe so.’

‘Which vampire brought it to you?’, Clary asked, making Maryse roll her eyes.

‘Not yours.’

‘Was it Raphael?’, Alec asked, to everyone’s surprise. ‘Raphael Santiago?’

Maryse nodded stiffly.

‘So he’s still in charge of the clan.’, Alec insisted. ‘Camille isn’t back?’

Jace didn’t like the way Alec was afraid of her. He knew about Camille and Magnus, but Jace didn’t think that was what made Alec so apprehensive.

‘Simon would have told us’, Clary said, and Alec nodded, dropping the subject.

‘You all have to be careful, that’s why I’ve called you. We have to figure out why this happened’, Maryse got back on track. ‘If there’s any connection between the attack and Valentine, and in the mean time, figure out what this demon is.’

She sighed, pointedly avoiding Alec’s gaze. ‘I’ll send a message to Magnus Bane, request him to do the autopsy.’

‘That won’t be necessary’, Alec said, somewhat subdued.

‘Damn it, Alec!’, Maryse all but snapped, making all of them freeze.

Alec stared at her, suddenly wide awake.

‘You are a shadowhunter’, Maryse went on, tone harsh. ‘You have a duty to this Institute, and I will not have you disregard that because of whatever… fight you have in that _stupid_ relationship.’

Jace felt Clary stiffen next to him, and he didn’t have to look to know how much Izzy was glaring at her mother.

‘I just meant’, Alec said slowly, still staring wide eyed at Maryse, ‘that it won’t be necessary because Magnus is still asleep in my room.’

Jace’s jaw dropped at that, and so did Maryse’s. But her expression soon changed into one of anger, she looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

‘I will not have a warlock living in my Institute!’, she all but yelled, and that made Alec’s expression change, now glaring, seemingly bored, at his mother.

‘Of course not.’, he said without any infliction in his tone. ‘You will have a warlock sleeping in _your_ Institute for a couple of nights a week, and you will have one of your shadowhunters sleeping off-base every other night.’

Alec didn’t give Maryse any opportunity to respond, turning around and heading for the door. He stopped, though, shifting to look at Izzy, a lot softer than before.

‘Can you grab him a cup of coffee, please? He’s awful in the mornings.’

Izzy grinned.

‘Half coffee, half milk’, Alec rolled his eyes, but it was fond.

With the Lightwood siblings out of the room, Maryse sighed deeply and turned to look at Jace. She looked exhausted.

‘I keep waiting for him to wake up. To realize what he’s doing and turn back to normal.’

Again, Clary stiffened next to him, but he talked before she could.

‘That’s not going to happen, Maryse’, Jace looked right at her, not backing down at all. ‘This is Alec’s normal. The sooner you understand that, the better we’re all going to be.’

Nothing else was said, Maryse promptly turning her back to them.

Clairy patted his shoulder twice, and he knew it was meant as a thank you, for standing up to Alec. Jace didn’t find the strength to look at her.

Alec came in a few minutes later, dragging along a barely awake Magnus. It was a… sight to see.

The warlock’s hair was standing up in a weird mess, there was glitter smudged under his eyes and sheet marks on his cheeks. Magnus was wearing a pair of shiny gold pajama pants and… what was clearly a sweater of Alec’s, because of the faded gray color, the frayed edges and the hole it had close to the collar.

Clary was shaking next to Jace, clearly laughing under her breath.

Alec kept dragging Magnus along until they got to the couch, where Alec somewhat gently pushed his boyfriend down. Izzy came in then, a cup of coffee in her hands, and she didn’t hesitate in sitting next to Magnus and giving him the drink.

‘Thank you, sweetheart’, Magnus didn’t even open his eyes, but Izzy preened nonetheless.

Clary was holding onto Jace, by this point, pushing her face to his shoulder to keep the laughter in. Honestly, Jace wasn’t doing much better. Magnus was ridiculous, and Izzy was ridiculously loving this, and Alec was ridiculously looking at Magnus with so much fondness in his eyes, Jace would’ve barfed if he wasn’t so happy for his parabatai.

Magnus drank his coffee quickly, in two long gulps, politely putting the empty cup on the coffee table, but not before snapping his fingers and making a coaster appear.

Then he straightened his back and turned to look at Maryse, his entire demeanor turning professional.

‘Good morning, what can I do for you?’

Maryse sighed and started explaining again. At the end of it, Magnus was frowning.

‘What?’, Alec asked.

‘Why didn’t Raphael call me?’

Everybody frowned at that, except for Alec.

‘He’s smart, and he has a tactical mind.’

Magnus pulled a face.

‘He’s fighting two wars’, Alec said evenly. ‘Against Valentine, and against Camille. He knows he has you by his side, but he wants the shadowhunters as well.’ He spared a look at Clary. ‘ _All_ the shadowhunters.’

Maryse scoffed. ‘Vampires and shadowhunters fighting together?’

‘It has happened before’, Clairy mumbled.

‘It’s not likely to happen again’, Maryse said strongly.

Magnus shrugged. ‘Raphael would’ve brought his clan on the Clave’s side last time they fought Valentine. If he would’ve been given a choice.’

Maryse narrowed her eyes. ‘You know this?’

Magnus smirked. ‘I’ve known Raphael for a couple of decades now. Yes, I know this.’

The woman sighed. ‘It doesn’t matter now.’

‘Right’, Magnus nodded, straightening his back again, before turning to Izzy. ‘Will you help me with the autopsy? There’s nothing better than a beautiful lady to pair with blood and gore.’

Izzy giggled. ‘You might want to change into something else before going to the morgue.’

Magnus looked down on himself, seemingly surprised by what he was wearing. He yelped, a bit, and snapped his fingers. Now, he was wearing a pair of bright red leather pants, light purple dress shoes and… another one of Alec’s sweater, dark maroon and way too big on Magnus’ frame.

‘I hate it when you do that’, Alec sighed. Magnus just beamed at him, giving him a quick peck on the lips, before grabbing Izzy’s hand and leaving the office.

Jace wordlessly headed to the training room, Clary and Alec following him. They were alone when they got there, and Clary started laughing, pretty hysterically.

She also hugged a very startled Alec.

Jace knew they grew closer in the time he was missing, but he was still getting accustomed to seeing it.

‘Why?’, was all Alec asked, awkwardly returning the hug.

‘That was hilarious’, Clairy said between her laughter.

Alec pulled a face. ‘That was awful.’

Clary kept laughing. Alec sighed after a while, relaxing in her hold and hugging her properly. He was towering over her, and Clary was still shaking with laughter against his chest.

‘I’m glad you’re enjoying my pain’, Alec grumbled, making Clary stop laughing. She pulled away from the hug, but didn’t let go of him completely, just enough so their eyes could lock.

‘For once, it’s not your pain, Alec’, she said very gently, and something snapped in Alec at that.

He smiled a little, a bit shaky, a bit of red coloring his cheeks. Alec looked exactly like he did when he was 14 and his dad gave him his own personal bow. Jace started snickering at that, making both of them turn to look at him.

‘Sorry’, he gulped. ‘It’s just…’, Jace waved his hands around. ‘ _Emotions_ ’.

That made both Alec and Clary glare at him, in exactly the same manner, and he started laughing harder. They both ignored him and started training.

It was good, Jace thought, looking at his sister and his parabatai training and teasing the hell out of each other.  


	2. Alec/Magnus, Alec & Simon: So what if I broke my arm I’m still doing it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ridiculous one sentence prompt, featuring Alec giving Simon his bow during a fight.

The bad part was that the Institute was being attacked by a horde of Forsaken. The good part was that Alec and his friends were caught in the training room, surrounded by weapons.

The bad part was that Alec was completely surprised by the attack, and he was the first one hit. A Forsaken threw him at a wall, and Alec broke his left arm. An iratze couldn’t fix a broken bone on the spot, so Alec couldn’t wield his bow.

He cursed under his breath, pulling himself up from the ground.

Izzy and Clary were fighting back to back, Jace was surrounded by Forsaken, but he was holding his own pretty well. Simon was suddenly by his side.

Alec wasted no time in grabbing his bow and quiver and giving them to Simon. The vampire looked startled by it.

‘I’ll keep them away from you’, Alec told him, grabbing a seraph blade in his right hand and adopting a fighting stance. ‘Watch their backs’.

For a couple of minutes, that worked. But Alec saw, in the corner of his eye, that Simon spent a lot of time being idle. It was understandable, Alec thought. As good of an archer Simon was, and he was good, surprisingly enough, but he has never actually been in a fight like this. He didn’t know what to do.

So Alec started giving him directions. Things got blurry then. All the energy was leaving him, and Alec realized that he had a deep gash on his side, from one of the Forsaken. It must have been poisoned.

Alec sunk to the ground, leaning against a wall, to the desperate yells of Simon calling his name.

‘I’m fine!’, Alec snapped. ‘Keep shooting!’

Simon did. He was fast, a lot faster than Alec because of his vampire speed and strength. And he never once missed, which was impressive.

Magnus and Raphael burst into the training room then, with two Forsaken on their backs. They didn’t look like they were aware of the Forsaken, so Alec grabbed a hold of Simon’s ankle, desperately saying Magnus’ name.

Simon was quick to catch on, shooting both of the Forsaken straight between their eyes.

Magnus and Raphael both stared with wide eyes after the arrows swept by their heads, but they were quick in joining the fight, with a hiss and a spark of blue.

Also in a spark of blue, a box of daggers appeared between Alec’s legs. Just in time, because a Forsaken was quickly making its way to them.

Alec threw the first dagger, but he missed. The second one hit its mark, though, the Forsaken falling to the ground with a dagger between his eyes.

Even though Alec’s vision got blurry, and it was hard for him to focus on the fight in front of him, he still gave Simon orders.

Where did all these Forsaken come from?, Alec couldn’t help but think. It was like they weren’t stopping, as soon as one fell, two more appeared.

Simon was close to running out of arrows, and even in his state, Alec saw that Clary was faltering, heavily tired from the fight. Jace was covered in ichor and Raphael somehow lost his jacket and shirt. Izzy was still fighting, but she was favoring her left side and cursing under her breath.

Magnus looked as pristine as always, but there was a wild look in his eyes.

‘ENOUGH!’, he finally screamed, and the whole room was enveloped in a blue light.

All the remaining Forsaken fell to the ground, but Magnus still had his arms outstretched, loudly saying an incantation, his cat eyes sparkling. Alec saw runes appear all over the room, and he knew that they were appearing all over the Institute, Magnus strengthening their defenses.

When he was done, Magnus turned to stare at Simon. All of them did, really.

‘That was amazing’, Clary said, staring at Simon with awe in her eyes, even as she was leaning heavily on Izzy.

‘I didn’t know you were an archer’, Raphael said, frowning profoundly and wiping his ichor stained hands on his pants.

‘Alec helped’, Simon gulped, gently putting the bow down, kneeling next to him.

‘You did well’, Alec patted his cheek, and promptly passed out.

→

Alec woke up in the infirmary, to the sounds of his mother and Magnus having a hushed conversation. That was alarming, to say the least.

He grunted, successfully grabbing their attention, and Magnus didn’t hesitate in taking Alec’s hand. His mother ignored it, but she also swept away the hair from Alec’s forehead.

‘What happened?’, Alec asked.

‘Demon poison’, Magnus said. ‘All gone now’, he threw in a grin for good measure.

Alec grunted and sat up in bed, his muscles a bit sore, but not too badly.

‘Raphael wants to get Simon a bow’, Magnus said next. ‘He’s asking for your professional opinion on the matter. Also, he’s willing to pay for you to train Simon. He’s good at it, but-‘

‘He’s not used to being in fights’, Alec nodded, then frowned. ‘I’ll train him, but I’m not taking Raphael’s money.’

Both Magnus and his mother looked surprised at that, making Alec scoff.

‘Simon’s Clary’s friend, and Clary is our friend.’, he shrugged. ‘By the Angel, we’re not going to get rid of him any time soon.’

Maryse scoffed at that, but Magnus giggled, which was enough to bring a smile to Alec’s lips.

‘How did you know, though?’, Magnus asked. ‘Why did you give him your bow?’

Alec frowned. ‘He mentioned it, I don’t remember when. That he won the archery competition at… uh, summer camp?!’

‘Get some rest’, Maryse finally said, with a pointed look to Magnus. ‘You need it.’

Alec did get some rest, but his mother didn’t need to know that he did it in Magnus’ arms.

→

Raphael apparently took the issue very seriously, because he built a shooting range on the rooftop of the Dumort. Alec was pretty impressed, and feeling equally awkward by being there in the dead of night.

But Clary was there as well, and Izzy because she was bored, and Raphael kept glaring at them all, and Simon, bless his innocent soul, was so excited he was bouncing on the soles of his feet.

He was good, Alec had to admit. He didn’t miss a single shot, no matter how difficult Alec set it up. But that wasn’t the point of this training, so as Simon kept shooting arrows at the targets, Alec started lecturing him, about combat archery tactics.

Simon kept interrupting with questions. It was annoying, but there weren’t bad questions. Alec remembered himself asking Hodge the same questions once upon a time. So he answered as best as he could, and he ignored Simon’s bad jokes and stupid puns.

→

A month into their training, Simon knocked on Alec’s door one night, just before they were both set to go on a mission together.

Simon brought him a box filled with comic books.

‘This is the entire new Hawkeye series’, Simon proclaimed, obviously proud of himself.

Alec blinked.

‘Do you know the Avengers?’, he asked next, and Alec vaguely remembered a movie Max made him watch, and some comics Magnus had in his library. He said as much, making Simon smile.

‘Right. Well, Hawkeye is the archer.’

That explained it. Alec rolled his eyes, said a gruff thank you, and urged Simon to go get geared up.

→

A week later, Magnus came home to find Alec sprawled on his couch, Chairman Meow sleeping on his thighs, the shadowhunter completely immersed in a bright purple comic book.

He didn’t even notice Magnus come in, so the warlock just _had_ to startle his boyfriend with a kiss so strong it made the Chairman hiss at them and trot over to the kitchen.

‘What are you reading?’, Magnus asked when they pulled apart.

Alec looked down, bashfully, reaching for the comic and showing it to Magnus.

‘Simon’, Alec sighed. ‘By the Angel, they’re really good.’

He sounded upset about the fact, and Magnus couldn’t help but think of how Simon insisted on having purple arrows. Magnus laughed, a lot, making Alec mumble something under his breath.

Still, the moment Magnus saw Alec and Simon fighting back to back, purple arrows against red ones, both of them shooting arrow after arrow without missing, strong in their pose and trusting in the other’s strengths… he most definitely didn’t laugh.


	3. Alec&Clary: Tol & Smol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brotp. We're all on this tol&smol bandwagon when it comes to these two, right? Inspired by [this post on tumblr](http://otpimagines-af.tumblr.com/post/139715818277/smol-and-tol-prompts). And by tumblr's obsession with this trope. _Five times Clary hates how tall Alec is, and one time she doesn't._

When Jace came back to the Institute, after his brief … break with Valentine, he was surprised by how much things have changed.

Mostly his parabatai and his sister… It was still weird saying that about Clary.

Alec was a whole new man, Jace thought. The same at his core, determined and strong, willing to protect the people he cared about, desperate to do the right thing. But he smiled more now, he made jokes! He touched people more often, casually and without any intent behind it, not just Jace and Izzy, but Clary too, and Simon. He got soft around the edges whenever he said Magnus’ name, and it would have been annoying, Jace thought, if it wasn’t so damn adorable. Alec’s relationship with his mother was a lot colder than Jace was used to seeing, but it was understandable, and it didn’t look like Alec was very affected by it.

The changes in Clary weren’t as noticeable, but Jace still saw them. She grew in her own body, he thought, watching her train. There was a lot of improvement, Clary finally wielding a seraph blade confidently, not hesitating in punching someone during training and moving as fast as a shadowhunter should. She accepted it, Jace realized, Clary accepted that she was a shadowhunter, and she acted like it. Listened to Maryse when she gave an order, listening to Alec and Izzy because they had more experience, spending a couple of hours every day studying the codex and even asking questions. She also seemed to be comfortable in the Institute, which was a comforting sight to see.

But most of all, Jace realized, the thing that was so fundamentally different since he left was the relationship between Clary and Alec. They were friends now, shockingly enough, they seemed comfortable around each other, they had inside jokes and they teased each other.

They were friends, they were close, they cared about one another.

It was mind boggling, for Jace. Every time he saw it clearly, right in front of his eyes, he could barely believe it.

 

**→One**

Jace was in the kitchen, already eating his breakfast, when Clary came in. She was still in her pajamas, her hair was mostly out of a braid and her eyes were barely open. She grunted something that sounded like ‘hello’ and didn’t say another thing as she started on making coffee.

When Alec came into the kitchen, Clary was on her tiptoes, using one hand on the counter to push herself up, struggling to get to the mugs that were up in a cupboard.

Alec wordlessly put his hands on her waist and easily lifted her up. Clary yelped, softly, but she got her mug and when her feet were back on the ground, she glared, a vicious thing, at Alec.

‘I hate you’, Clary told him strongly.

Alec just rolled his eyes. ‘You’re welcome, short straw. Is there more coffee?’

Clary sighed and mumbled something about tall assholes under her breath, but she did leave enough coffee for Alec to have.

After Clary left the kitchen, he raised an eyebrow at Jace.

‘Why are you staring?’

‘Nothing’, Jace gulped, looking away. ‘Nothing at all.’

 

**→Two**

When Jace made his way into the training room, Alec and Clary were in the middle of a heated discussion, both of them holding seraph blades.

‘You’re holding it wrong’, Alec was saying. ‘I’ve told you hundreds of times, that’s not how-‘

‘Give me your hand’, Clary demanded. Alec frowned, but he did extend his hand, slowly, palm up.

Clary straightened it and pushed her palm against his. Alec’s hand was ridiculously large compared to hers.

‘Do you see this?’, Clary said fiercely. ‘I’m never going to be able to hold a blade as you can, because your hands are twice the size of mine.’

She punctuated the statement by wiggling her fingers. Alec pulled a face and bit on his lip, and Jace knew he was holding back a giggle, because his palms were unnaturally ticklish.

Clary must have seen it, because she narrowed her eyes and pointedly did it again, making Alec yelp and pull his hand back.

‘Okay, I see your point’, he amended. ‘Talk to Izzy, will you? She should have some pointers to give you.’

There was a pause, before Alec smirked. ‘You dwarfs should stick together.’

Clary made an affronted sound, which made Alec snicker, and then she attacked, and they went back to their training.

Jace just shook his head, thinking about how much Clary would have yelled at him if he had been the one to call her a dwarf.

 

**→Three**

Maryse was explaining their next mission, and they were all gathered around the table in the command room.

Jace was paying attention, but he saw, in the corner of his eye, something red appearing and disappearing behind Alec. It took a moment for him to realize that it was Clary, struggling to see the map that was laid on the table, Alec’s height stopping her from looking over his shoulder.

Without saying a word, Alec sighed and grabbed a hold of Clary’s shoulders, easily moving her body until she was standing in front of him, and Alec was the one looking over her shoulder.

Clary didn’t say anything either, she just elbowed him in the stomach. But Jace saw that it was done gently, and he saw a half smirk on Alec’s lips, that only grew when Clary leaned back against his chest.

It was done so easily, so casual, Jace couldn’t help but feel jealous, considering how these days, Clary thought twice before touching him.

 

**→Four**

Jace went into the library intent of asking everyone if they wanted to go out and grab something to eat. He stopped, however, when his eyes landed on the couch.

Alec was sitting in a corner of it, his feet crossed at the ankles on the coffee table, his kindle in his right hand, elbow on the armrest. His left hand was wrapped around Clary, who was tucked against his side, her knees tucked to her chest and feet tucked under Alec’s thigh. She was clearly reading Alec’s kindle too, considering he only swiped to the next page after Clary gave a small tap on his thigh.

She looked… so tiny next to Alec, it was like Cleary took up no space at all on the couch.

Jace stared long enough for Izzy to clear her throat. He snapped out of it, and asked his question. They did go out for dinner, and he spent it trying his best to ignore how Clary and Alec’s sides were all but glued together in the booth, and how she was talking about really needing to buy her own kindle.

 

**→Five**

Jace has gotten used to ending up at Magnus’ apartment by now, he even got used to see Alec and Magnus together, Magnus shamelessly flirting and Alec flirting back. Jace got used to seeing them kissing and holding hands, and Alec not reacting when Magnus called him ‘darling’, and he got used to hearing his parabatai call his boyfriend ‘babe’.

But right now, Jace was having a bit of an issue adjusting to Alec and Magnus AND Clary.

It wasn’t the fact that Magnus kissed her forehead when they arrived at his apartment, even before kissing Alec. And it wasn’t the fact that the warlock still called her ‘biscuit’, while Alec called her ‘short straw’.

No, it was the fact that they were _gossiping_. Magnus And Clary were standing together by the windows, heads bent towards one another, giggling every now and then, and gossiping about Simon and Raphael, from what Jace could tell. And that wasn’t even the worst of it, the worst of it was that Alec was there as well. He wasn’t saying much in the conversation, but he was clearly paying attention, nodding along and laughing every now and then.

At one point, Alec stretched, clearly uncomfortable in the position he was standing, back against the wall, hunching up a bit so that he could be at eye level (ish) with the two of them. He winced a bit, fully stretching his back, before raising an arm and putting it… on top of Clary’s head.

Alec was using Clary’s head as an armrest. And she didn’t even bat an eye at it. Not at first, at least. Clary let him stay like that for a couple of minutes, but when Magnus stretched up to give Alec a kiss, that’s when she became aware of it.

And she started yelling. It didn’t count for much, considering Alec didn’t take his arm away, and Magnus was laughing loudly beside them. Even Clary started laughing at one point, so she stopped yelling in order to fight her laughter.

‘Darling’, Magnus whispered playfully at his boyfriend, ‘I think you made Biscuit angry.’

Alec snorted, finally taking his arm away, affectionately ruffling Clary’s hair.

‘Not my fault short straw here is so comfortable’.

Clary huffed, heavily annoyed, lifting her hands in the air, before turning around and forcefully walking away from them. She came by Jace’s side.

‘Where did _short straw_ even come from?’, he couldn’t help but ask.

Clary sighed, but there was laughter in her eyes when she talked about it.

‘When you left, someone else had to pick up my training. Alec and Izzy drew straws for it. When he drew the short one…’, Clary shrugged. ‘He turned the joke around to me. It stuck.’

Jace hummed, trying his best not to laugh. ‘But you don’t have a nickname for him’, he pointed out.

Suddenly, Clary looked evil. ‘Oh, I have one. I’m just bidding my time.’

Jace knew better than to ask.

 

**→Plus One**

It was way too early in the morning when Clary marched into the kitchen, way more awake than she should have been. She stopped in front of Alec, tapped his shoulder and sniffed twice.

‘Can I get a hug?’, she whispered and there was no hesitation on Alec’s part.

He hugged Clary tightly, from where Jace was sitting, behind Alec, he didn’t even _see_ her anymore, Alec was enveloping her completely.

‘What happened?’, Alec asked, and Clary sniffed again before saying a really unbelievable ‘doesn’t matter’.

She also pulled away from the hug and sat down next to them at the table. Jace could see that she has been crying, but if she didn’t want to talk to either of them, he wasn’t going to press the issue.

‘Thanks, Blanky’, Clary told Alec, making him frown.

‘Blanky?’

She nodded, smiling innocently. ‘You’re as huge as a blanket, you cover me completely.’

Alec looked so disturbed and shocked, even as he started blushing, and Clary kept blinking innocently at him, playful and mischievous…

Jace lost it. He laughed, a lot, and after a while he hugged them both.

That’s how Magnus found them. Of course, he didn’t comment, the warlock just joined the hug.


	4. Alec/Magnus: Pointless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Started from a ridiculous one sentence prompt: “Could you please move your bed a little further from the wall I’m trying to work” au
> 
> After Alec gets stripped of his runes, he takes some time off everything in order to get his feelings in check. Writing helps, so after a few months, he’s got a contract for a book series, a deadline fast approaching and a very loud new neighbor, who perhaps knows more than he should.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writer!Alec. AU in the usual Shadowhunter world. THIS HAS 10.400 WORDS, OKAY?! IT GOT AWAY FROM ME.

The biggest mistake of Alec’s life was a glass of wine. Technically.

The fact that he drank the glass of wine at a function organized by the Clave, and the fact that the glass of wine made him talk before he truly thought about what he was saying, the cute shadowhunter from London who insisted Alec drank a glass of wine with him, that all led to the biggest mistake of Alec’s life.

‘Well I’m gay, and the Clave is too stupid to accept that.’

Those were the words that got Alec stripped of his runes. Not because he insulted the Clave, no, but because homosexuality was illegal in the Shadowhunter world.

There wasn’t anything he could do about it, there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it. He went through the painful process of having his runes removed. He apologized to Jace, but his parabatai understood, saying that their connection might have been severed, but they were still brothers, no matter what. Alec let Izzy fuss over him as he was healing, he let her help in getting an apartment in Brooklyn, helped her decorate it. He also accepted the massive amount of money his parents gave him, thinking it’ll make _them_ feel better about the whole thing. He said goodbye to Max, and promised he’ll always be his big brother.

The law said that the Lightwoods were to severe any contact with Alec. Izzy and Jace were very bad at following the law, so they let themselves in Alec’s apartment any time they had a moment to spear. Alec still hasn’t seen his parents yet, but both of them got burner phones with the sole purpose of texting Alec. Sometimes, they let Max use them.

It was a hard couple of months. Depressed didn’t even begin to describe Alec’s condition.

He was physically in pain, the places where his permanent runes once stood were now in the process of scaring. The parabatai rune hurt the worst, and the pain went deep inside his heart. Seeing Jace helped, but not much.

Alec was lethargic, all he wanted to do was sleep to forget. He was also paranoid, every time he left his apartment he was looking over his shoulder for demons, knowing that he was virtually defenseless, no bow and no seraph blade will ever touch his hands again.

He wasn’t able to get used to living alone, the apartment felt too empty, too quiet, but at the same time, Alec was terrified to leave it. He stopped taking care of himself, as Izzy pointed out, he went on for weeks without shaving, for days without showering, he hardly ever cooked anything even remotely healthy, and he never trained anymore.

When Izzy suggested it, he was desperate enough to accept. There was a half-fey woman who had a psychiatric practice, not too far from Alec’s apartment. He was able to talk to her freely about everything that happened to him, because she knew of the shadow world.

It was weird at first, he was very uncomfortable, but Alec also knew that he _needed_ the help. And she did help. Slowly, progress was made, and Alec was able to breathe again.

She was the one to suggest it, and years later, she will admit that she didn’t actually think Alec would do it.

But he did. He brought a laptop and started writing.

At first, they started as mission reports. But one night, after Izzy left and there was still half a bottle of vodka on his desk, Alec read the few pages he had written and decided they were shit. So he re-wrote them and before he knew it, he had a plot outline in his head, ideas for a pair of main characters and a couple of secondary ones, and three chapters written.

He kept at it, kept writing the story. It wasn’t _his_ story, it wasn’t a story about the world of shadowhunters, the Clave wouldn’t hesitate in killing him if he disclosed anything to the mundane.

The story was a supernatural one, a modern tale of demons and warlocks, werewolves and vampires, the partnership between a human and a vampire, who fought together to protect their worlds.

It sounded like a cliché, yes, Alec was aware that this was the plot of most supernatural stories. But it was different, because even if nobody will ever know, this was inspired by real events.

Alec kept writing it because it helped, with his state of mind. Writing made him calmer, and the fact that he spent his days thinking of his characters and the plot, it meant that he wasn’t thinking of anything else. And that was good.

It took a couple of months for him to finish it, and by the end, it was a full blown novel. His therapist wanted to read it, and Alec was a bit apprehensive, but he did send it to her.

He sent it to Izzy and Jace, too.

Their responses were pretty overwhelming, words too good, they went over Alec’s head. It was Izzy that sent his draft to a mundane publisher, and it was Izzy that harassed Alec into attending the meeting.

So here he was, Alec Lightwood, 25 years old, former shadowhunter. Here he was, alone in his apartment in Brooklyn, sitting at the desk, his laptop open and a cup of coffee by his side, the outline of his second book written on the whiteboard he installed on the wall above the desk. Alec was writing, because he had a deadline.

And a contract for four more books in his series, because the first one did surprisingly well.

He still saw things he shouldn’t, the Sight left behind even after his runes were just scars. He still saw downworlders on the streets of New York, and he ran the other way. Izzy and Jace kept telling him stories of their missions, ideas for his book, they said, and they left Alec terrified and feeling so unbelievably alone.

Life wasn’t good, he thought, his fingers running over the scar that stood where his parabatai rune once was, but Alec figured it wasn’t going to get better than this.

∆

Alec wasn’t a social person. He had Izzy and Jace, and he had his editor. He didn’t have mundane friends, he didn’t go out.

It’s been a year since he left the Institute, and in all this time, he lived alone in the building. It was a modern structure, a nice café and a small flower shop at the ground level, and two apartments on top, spiraling around one another.

A month ago, someone moved into the second apartment. Alec didn’t meet them, he never saw them, but the buzzer downstairs said _Magnus Bane_ (Alec didn’t even bother putting up his name, there was no need for it). And even if it’s only been a couple of weeks, Bane’s buzzer already had marks of use, a lot more than Alec’s did, after a year.

He didn’t mind the parties, the loud music and yelling. Alec was still struggling with silence, and he wrote better at night, so he was okay with that.

He didn’t mind knowing that he was just a door away from strangers, either. Surprisingly enough.

He didn’t mind the glitter that was always littering the hallway and the stairs, he didn’t mind that the garbage cans out back were always full to the brim with empty wine bottles.

What he did mind was the sex.

Once every couple of nights, after the party died down, his neighbor would spend a couple of hours having sex. Alec usually heard only one male voice, constantly, supposedly this Magnus Bane, but sometimes there was a woman screaming, other times there was another man cursing.

But that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was the bed. His neighbor’s bed was right against the wall Alec’s desk was, and the bed kept hitting the wall with an ominous sound that always startled Alec at first, but then annoyed him to the point of insanity.

He tried to ignore it, and it worked for a while, but now Alec had a week till his deadline and tree more chapters to write.

So one night, he waited for the sex sounds to stop, he waited until he heard his neighbor’s front door opening and closing, and even if it was 4:30 am, he knocked on Magnus Bane’s door.

The man who opened the door was… something else.

Golden skin, dark eyes rimmed with black, glitter on his cheekbones, a modern haircut that was disheveled, with bright aqua streaks in it. He was only wearing a pair of stripped black and white pajama pants and a silk bathrobe on top, bright pink with sequins on the collar.

‘May I help you?’, he said in a booming voice, and Alec realized he was staring, but he snapped out of it pretty quickly.

‘I’m sorry, I know it’s late.’

‘Oh, I wasn’t sleeping’, the other man said next, smirking a bit at Alec.

‘I know’, he nodded. ‘I’m your neighbor and well, this is awkward.’, he looked down, rubbing the back of his neck.

Bane waited Alec out, watching him calmly.

‘I don’t mind the parties and the music and stuff’, Alec finally said. ‘It’s just that your bedroom shares a wall with my office, and I have a deadline coming up and… well’, he gulped, knowing he was blushing. ‘Do you think it’s possible you could push your bed away from the wall? The… bed frame hitting the wall is uh… distracting.’

When Alec looked up, the other man’s jaw was dropped and his eyes were wide. As soon as their eyes locked, though, he composed himself.

‘My, my, this is very embarrassing. I do apologize.’

Alec shook his head. ‘It’s alright.’

‘I promise I will solve the issue’, he said, extending a hand.

Alec took it.

‘I’m Magnus.’, he smiled wildly.

‘I know’, Alec returned it, more subdued. ‘Alec. Alexander Lightwood.’

There was a flinch in Magnus, Alec wouldn’t have caught it if he wasn’t staring into the other man’s eyes. But it was gone as soon as it came, Magnus yawning and apologizing about it.

Alec took his leave, going back to his writing.

The next night, Alec didn’t hear the bed hitting the wall, he just heard a guy yelling Magnus’ name.

It was an improvement.

∆

Alec finished his chapters with just a few hours to spare.

So at 6AM on a Friday morning, he was wide awake and exhausted, not having slept in 30 hours. He was also starving, so he went down to the café for his usual breakfast.

As he was waiting for his food, Magnus came in, looking perfect even with the early hour. He was wearing a pair of leather pants, a dark burgundy shirt and a tailored jacket on top, that glinted silver in the sun.

He smiled when their eyes locked, and Alec felt massively inappropriate, in sweatpants and a sweater so old it didn’t even have a color anymore.

‘Alexander’, Magnus smiled, making him flinch.

‘Please don’t call me that. Only my parents called me that, when I was in trouble. Alec is fine.’

Magnus nodded, boldly sitting down at his table, as the waitress wordlessly brought him a cup of coffee.

‘It’s good to see you even though, and I’m sorry if I’m being rude, but you look… unwell.’

Alec ran a hand down his face. ‘I’m fine, just tired. I met my deadline, though.’

‘That’s great’, Magnus smiled easily.

‘Yeah’, Alec nodded. ‘I’m ready to pass out for a couple of days.’

‘Well luckily for you’, Magnus winked, ‘I have got work to do, so no party tonight.’

‘I told you’, Alec shook his head. ‘I have no problem with that.’

Magnus just tilted his head, smiling.

He was very good looking, Alec was aware of this. But he was also so very much out of Alec’s league, it was depressingly hilarious.

When he looked up again, Magnus was staring at Alec’s neck. There was a scar there, left behind from a rune, and Alec was quick to cover it with his hand.

Magnus’s phone pinged, startling them both and interrupting the awkward moment. Alec stared for a bit too long at the sequined phone case and the sparkly blue nailpolish, because it reminded him of Izzy.

‘If you’ll excuse me’, Magnus got up. ‘I can’t afford to keep my clients waiting.’

Alec nodded, extending his hand. Magnus seemed surprised by the gesture, but pleased. He had a lot of rings, Alec noticed. All silver, one more intricate than the other. They clinked together when Magnus waved, and for a split second, Alec thought about how they would feel against his skin.

He needed sleep, clearly.

∆

He kept seeing Magnus after that.

In the mornings, when Alec was just leaving for his run, or down at the café. In the evenings, when Magnus was just coming home to get ready for a party.

Alec never got an invitation to one of these parties, and he kept reminding himself it was ridiculous to feel bad about it.

Maybe that was why he agreed to go out clubbing with Izzy. Alec even let her pick out his outfit, a pair of black skinny jeans and a dark blue Henley, and he followed her to what was clearly a gay mundane club.

To Izzy’s great displeasure, he didn’t hook up with anyone, even though there were offers. Quite a few of them. It was ridiculous, Alec thought.

But Izzy still lectured him on their way back to his apartment. About how he was alone and it wasn’t healthy, that he needed friends, normal mundane friends, that he needed to get laid.

Alec was too tired to argue with her.

∆

But the next day, when Magnus knocked on his door come noon, with a plate of homemade cupcakes for no reason whatsoever, Izzy’s voice still rang in Alec’s head.

So he invited Magnus in for lunch. The other man beamed so widely, it was hard for Alec to suppress a smile.

Magnus was very easy to talk to, Alec managed to only stammer for the first half an hour. But Magnus… he talked a lot, yes, but he didn’t _say_ a lot.

Alec didn’t manage to find out what he did for a living, only that he was self employed, kept odd hours and worked with insufferable clients.

Magnus said that he was Indonesian, but that he traveled around the world a lot. New York has been his home for years, and the way he said it, Alec thought he meant decades, which was impossible, Magnus couldn’t be a lot older than Alec.

He flirted a lot, which made Alec blush furiously. But it was just for fun, he figured out pretty early on. Magnus wasn’t… expecting anything, it didn't seem too serious.

So it was nice, having him over for lunch. Alec enjoyed himself, the cupcakes were delicious, and he didn’t mind the way Magnus’s eyes kept straying to the scars on his neck and arms, or how he kept looking around the apartment, clearly not finding whatever he was looking for.

∆

Alec woke up one morning with a cat on his chest. Which was weird, because he didn’t have a cat.

He blinked wearily at the feline, who was watching him suspiciously. Which was ridiculous, because the cat broke into _his_ house!

After he managed to wake up a bit, Alec noticed that the cat had a collar. It didn’t have a name or address on it, but it was covered in sequins. Which meant Magnus.

He probably woke Magnus up, considering the rumpled pajamas he was wearing, but the cat tried to scratch Alec when he tried to pet it, so it HAD to go.

‘Is this yours?’, Alec extended the cat to Magnus, who was startled.

‘Chairman Meow!’, he screeched, taking the cat into his arms. ‘What did I tell you about running into unassuming attractive men’s arms?’

Alec snorted. ‘Bed, actually. He was in my bed.’

Magnus gasped, faking his shock. ‘Why, Chairman! I never!’

Alec snorted again, making Magnus smile at him.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t know how he got out, but I’ll investigate it.’

‘It’s alright’, Alec shrugged. ‘No harm done. Well’, he looked at the small cuts on his hand. ‘No major harm done.’

‘Oh no’, Magnus said, highly distressed. ‘He hurt you.’

‘It’s a scratch, Magnus’, Alec rolled his eyes. ‘I think I’ll live.’

Magnus looked at his scars again. ‘Come in, will you?’, he said in a very subdued tone. ‘I’ll get us some coffee.’

Alec only hesitated for a second.

Magnus’ apartment was just like his owner: flamboyant and stylish. But the couch was very comfortable and Alec was left staring at the library that peaked behind a half-opened door. It was filled with books, old books by the look of it.

‘I’m a collector’, Magnus explained upon seeing Alec looking.

‘That’s a lot of books’, Alec said, still staring wide eyed.

‘I’m also rich’, Magnus said after a beat, finally making Alec look at him.

‘I kinda figured as much.’

Magnus laughed, coming back from the kitchen with two cups of coffee that tasted suspiciously like they were from the café downstairs. Alec didn’t address it.

His eyes kept roaming around the apartment, but they stopped on the windowsill where a very familiar book stood.

‘Ah’, Magnus said. ‘I just finished reading it last night.’

Alec turned to look at him, blush high on his cheeks, too scared to ask what he thought of it.

He regretted not signing his books with a pseudonym, but Izzy and Jace argued that if he did that, and the Clave would find out, they could argue that Alec was spilling secrets. He wasn’t, but signing it with his name showed that he wasn’t hiding from the Clave.

‘I didn’t know about it’, Magnus said, smiling at him. ‘A friend of mine gifted it to me, thinking I would like it, not knowing that you and I are aquainted. It’s uh…’, he smirked. ‘Let’s just say that your book is making the rounds in my group of peers.’

Alec… didn’t know what that meant. He thought it was better not to ask, considering how secretive Magnus was.

‘What did you think?’, he got the courage to ask, and Magnus beamed.

‘I enjoyed it tremendously, I assure you. I didn’t think I would’, he waved a dismissive hand, ‘this supernatural business has never really captured my attention. But I have to admit, it is not like anything I have ever read.’

Alec blushed, looking doubtfully at Magnus.

‘No, really’, he insisted. ‘There is usually a big wall between the world of humans and the world of… monsters, in these writings. And between several factions of creatures, vampires and werewolves never like each other.’

‘That’s still the case in my book’, Alec frowned.

‘Yes, but…’, Magnus shook his head, ‘it feels like it’s going into a different direction.’

Alec bit on his lip to keep himself from saying anything. The truth was, Magnus was right. Alec planned to make all the factions work together by the end of his series. It was impossible to happen in the real life, the Clave will _never_ work with downworlders, but Alec dreamed of it.

‘And’, Magnus said next, smiling and lounging back on the couch, ‘I’m very curious to see if those two idiots end up together.’

Alec frowned. ‘Which two idiots?’

Magnus said the names of the main characters, the vampire and the human. Both were males, and honestly, Alec hasn’t decided yet, what he was going to do about them. He kept his options open, and he had thought about it before, quite extensively, if he should make it into a love story, but… he was still thinking about it.

‘I can tell from your expression’, Magnus smiled, ‘that you aren’t going to give me information on the matter.’

‘No, I am not’, Alec grinned, before his smile slipped a bit. ‘Thank you. I hope you weren’t just saying all that to be polite.’

‘Oh no’, Magnus’s response was quick, ‘that really isn’t in my nature. I actually enjoyed the book, Alec, and I am excited to see what happens next. My… friends are as well. We’re really hoping for a coalition.’, he tilted his head. ‘And I’m really hoping for gay vampires.’

Alec laughed at that, and Magnus beamed at him.

∆

When Izzy and Jace came to see Alec together, he knew shit just went down.

And sure enough, his siblings came with talks of their latest adventure, and the High Warlock of Brooklyn, who has finally returned in the city, after years of being away. He was a very powerful man, very rude with Alec’s parents, surprisingly kind with Izzy and Jace. Odd, Jace said. Hot, Izzy added.

They didn’t tell Alec his name, and they didn’t talk about how he looked. It was the Law, and it was better that way, Izzy argued, because if Alec ever wanted to feature the story in his books, he could create his own character.

For some reason, Alec couldn’t do that, because all he saw behind his eyelids was Magnus, these days. He postponed including the story in his books. He could do it later.

∆

Alec was at Magnus’s. This was something normal, nowadays, 8 months into their friendship. What was, however, not normal, was Chairman Meow scratching straight onto one of Alec’s scars, on his arm.

It was a deep scratch, and it bled a lot, instantly.

Magnus yelled at his cat to disappear, and really, Alec has never heard him yell like that. He then fussed over Alec quite a lot, anger and disappointment clear.

‘I’m fine’, Alec had enough, stilling Magnus’s hands. ‘As you can see, I’ve had worse.’

Magnus sighed, tension leaking off of his body.

‘What … what gave you the scars?’, he asked, and Alec was shocked into silence. Because this was the first time Magnus asked, this was the first time _anybody_ asked, and he didn’t have a plausible answer.

‘It was an accident’, he managed to say.

Magnus suddenly looked at him, strong and unnerving. ‘You can tell me anything, Alec.’

He couldn’t, he could get killed because of it. ‘It was just an accident.’

Magnus stared at him for a couple of beats, before sighing and wordlessly going to the kitchen, returning with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

Nothing else on the matter was said that night. Magnus didn’t flirt once.

∆

Two days later, Magnus asked about Alec’s parents.

‘You never speak of them. I’m just curious what happened.’

Alec stared, suddenly angry. ‘Yeah, well, I don’t even know what you do for a living, Magnus, I don’t owe you explanations.’

Magnus looked startled and hurt, but in the end he nodded, laughing under his breath. It sounded cold.

‘You’re right, Alec. I apologize, let’s leave it at that.’

∆

That night, Alec went out clubbing with Izzy again.

He fully intended to hook up, just so he could clear his head of all these thoughts, of dreams with his fingers in Magnus’s hair, his lips on his chest, their bodies pressed together.

Alec was so _angry_ with Magnus right now, he needed to get him out of his head. He didn’t explain this to Izzy, of course, and she didn’t ask about the sudden change of heart, she just happily picked him up.

Half way to the club, though, her phone rang. It was their mother, calling her in for an emergency.

Izzy said that he could still go without her. But the thought of being alone in a crowded club, desperately searching for a piece of filthy contact… Alec went home and prayed for his siblings to survive the night.

∆

Two hours later, Jace was carrying an unconscious, bleeding Izzy to Alec’s couch.

‘You were closest’, Jace said when Alec asked what happened.

‘I’ll get Magnus’, he said next, which made no sense.

Absolutely no sense.

Alec couldn’t do anything. For his entire life, the only good part of being a Shadowhunter had been that he could be out there, fighting side by side Izzy and Jace, protecting the people that mattered the most.

But now, he was helpless. He couldn’t even draw an _iratze_ on his sister. All he could do was hold her hand and push the hair out of her face.

_Pathetic._

Jace quickly came back, having brought Magnus, despite of the party he was clearly hosting.

Magnus stopped in the doorway to the living room, staring at Izzy.

Only then did Alec realize that beside him was Raphael, the leader of the New York vampire clan.

Alec gasped, making Magnus turn to look at him. He looked devastated, for a second, before a strong mask took its place and he demanded space to work, quickly kneeling next to Izzy.

Alec was absently aware of Raphael saying that he’ll end the party, he was somewhat aware of the fact that Jace came by his side and put a hand on his shoulder, he was acutely aware of the fact that Izzy was barely breathing, and he was paintastically aware of the fact that there were blue flashes of light pouring out of Magnus’s fingers.

Magnus, who was reciting incantations in what Alec recognized as a demon language. Magnus, who was gracefully moving his fingers over Izzy’s body. Magnus, whose eyes weren’t dark anymore, but bright yellow, slit like a cat’s.

Magnus, who was the High Warlock of Brooklyn.

∆

It was half an hour before Magnus stopped his magic. He fell to the ground, sweat pooling on his forehead and dark bags under his eyes.

‘She’ll be alright’, he said, his voice raw. ‘I got all the poison out, she just needs rest.’

He turned to look at Jace. ‘You shouldn’t have come here.’

‘She was dying!’, Jace exploded. ‘You were the closest help I could get!’

Magnus shook his head. ‘You should have brought her to _my_ apartment, not Alec’s. If the Clave finds out, they’ll kill him.’

Jace looked horrified at the prospect, but he did agree with Magnus, Alec reckognized his "I fucked up" look.

Raphael, who Alec just noticed was back, moved to grab Izzy.

‘No!’, Alec found his voice. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Alec’, Magnus said softly, the two of them finally looking at one another. ‘The Clave has been ridiculously attentive to the Lightwood’s missions since you left.’

This was brand new information to Alec. Horrifying brand new information, which his siblings clearly kept from him.

Magnus went on. ‘They don’t know you’re here. So let me take care of Isabelle at my lair, because the Clave will surely be coming and interrogating her as soon as she wakes up. Lay low till the coast is clear.’

Alec swallowed. ‘How long have you known?’

Magnus smiled, sadly. ‘The moment you told me your name, darling.’

He was gone, with that, and so were Raphael and Izzy. Jace stood back just enough to hug Alec, and to make him promise he won’t step out of his apartment until the coast was clear.

What else could he do?

∆

Izzy woke up two hours later, Jace texted him about it.

Representatives of the Clave arrived half an hour later, interrogating not only Izzy, but Jace and Magnus as well. That took two hours.

An hour later, Alec got a text from Magnus.

_If you randomly remember to bring me something I forgot at your place, I’ll cloak the lair so that the Clave won’t ever know you were in the same room as your parents._

Alec wouldn’t have hesitated, but the truth was Magnus has never forgotten anything at his place. It didn't matter.

He took a deep breath and faked calmness as he made his way to Magnus’s door and knocked.

When the warlock opened it, he was smiling. He didn’t say anything, though, before boldly grabbing a hold of Alec’s wrist and dragging him inside.

Everyone was there, his mother and father and Max too. Max, who screeched excitedly and ran to Alec, who barely had the time to fall to his knees before hugging his brother tightly.

His parents were looking in shock at him, and Alec felt tears in his eyes. He fought them down though, gently stopping the hug with Max. He only let go after kissing his forehead, though, and he braced himself before going to his parent’s side.

‘Alec, how-‘, his mother tried to ask, but Magnus cut her off.

‘It’ll be our little secret’, he smiled, before walking into the library and closing the door behind him.

It was only then that his mother moved, grabbing him into a very strong hug. Alec didn’t protest when she pushed his head into the crook of her neck, didn’t mind when Maryse’s fingers started running through his hair. She didn’t let go for a long time, not even when his dad came to their side and put a strong hand on the back of Alec’s neck.

‘I’m fine, thanks for asking’, Izzy said finally, and Alec snorted. He kissed his mother’s cheek and smiled, somewhat shakily, at Robert, before he made his way to Izzy’s side, on the couch where she was almost buried in a cocoon of plush blankets.

‘I know you’re fine’, he said, not even feeling ashamed of the fact that he had to wipe his face of tears. ‘Jace kept texting me.’

He sat next to his sister, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she snuggled into his side, and Max was quick to do the same thing on his other side.

Jace sat down on an armrest, and his parents sat on the coffee table, both of them still looking shocked.

‘He didn’t know, Maryse’, it was Jace that spoke first. ‘He didn’t know Magnus was a warlock.’

‘I don’t care’, she breathed out. ‘Just… Tell me how you’re doing, Alec, please.’

He took a deep breath, pulled on Izzy’s hair, and started talking. It took a while, for him to summarize that past two years, and it was a painful experience, but he did it.

The look on his parents faces were priceless when he talked about his books, and Alec even managed to laugh at that.

When he was done, his mother let out a very long breath of air.

‘You’re alright.’

‘Yeah’, Alec said, meaning it. ‘Yeah I am. I’m… I’m in a good place now, mom.’

‘And you were friends with Magnus Bane without knowing about him or what he is’, his father said, a tone Alec couldn’t define in his voice.

‘He didn’t do it on purpose, if that’s what you’re asking’, Jace said gruffly. ‘We checked. And double checked.’

Robert hesitated, but ultimately, he didn’t say anything.

‘Looking back’, Alec admitted, ‘I probably should have seen it.’

‘No’, Izzy shook his head. ‘We made him swear not to tell you or give you any indication. He didn’t like it, but he agreed it was the safest way.’

Alec couldn’t say anything in response to that.

‘We should get back to the Institute’, Maryse sighed. ‘It’s suspicious if we stay too long.’

Alec nodded, giving both of his siblings a kiss on the forehead, hugging his mother tightly, even hugging his father briefly, ruffling Jace’s hair just so he could see him cursing under his breath.

When he called Magnus’s name, the door to the library opened, but it was Chairman Meow that came out first, heading straight between Alec’s legs. Everybody was startled, except for Alec, who snorted, but picked the cat up.

They were getting along pretty well, these days.

Magnus came out with a smile on his face.

‘Magnus’, Maryse said stiffly, ‘we owe you-‘

‘Absolutely nothing’, he interrupted, earning a glare. ‘I don’t charge my friends, Maryse’, he smiled. ‘This entire building is warded, hidden from the Clave. You’re welcome here any time.’

‘Why?’, it was Robert that asked, and Magnus spared a look at Alec, as fleeting as it was.

‘Because I have never encountered anything more cruel than the stripping of marks.’

Maryse looked away at that, nodding stiffly.

‘Does that mean I can come over now?’, Max asked, grabbing a hold of Alec’s hand. ‘Nobody’s as good as you as teaching me runes’, he whined, then whispered ‘Jace is horrible’.

Alec snorted, but after their mother nodded, he promised Max that they’ll figure something out.

Magnus waved his fingers around (and Alec was absolutely fascinated by those movements and he planned on staring at them at a later date) and opened a Portal.

‘I’ll be seeing you soon, I’m sure’, he smiled at the elder Lightwoods. Then, he leveled Izzy with a look. ‘You still need to rest, sweetheart. Three days, at least.’

She nodded, hugging him briefly before grabbing Max’s hand and stepping into the Portal, their parents following closely.

Jace lingered, just enough to give Alec a proper hug. He didn’t say anything, just ran his fingers over the place where Alec’s parabatai rune used to be, a reminder.

When the Portal closed, Alec took a deep breath before turning to look at Magnus.

‘Well-‘, the warlock started, but Alec cut him off by enveloping him into a tight hug.

Magnus yelped, but he was quick to return the hug, relaxing in his hold.

‘I’m sorry’, Alec said, and Magnus pulled away, looking at him in shock.

‘What ever for, Alec?’

He took a step back and a deep breath, willing himself to look at Magnus.

‘I shouldn’t have doubted you.’

‘It’s understandable’, Magnus said gently, but Alec shook his head.

‘I was so _angry_ , Magnus, I had no right to be. And I’m sorry for the way I treated you in the past days.’, he took a short intake of breath. ‘You were only protecting me.’

‘Well’, Magnus said slowly, smirking slightly, ‘now that that’s all out in the open, I think we’ll do better at this whole…’, he waved a hand in a flourish, ‘ _friends_ thing.’

Alec laughed, feeling completely exhausted. Magnus knew him, because he promptly sent him to bed.

∆

From then on, every Sunday morning, his family would come over to Alec’s apartment for breakfast.

Every Wednesday night, when everybody at the Institute thought he was asleep, Max would step into a Portal Magnus made for him, and spend a couple of hours in Alec’s apartment, working on his runes and whatever his tutors thought him that week.

Izzy and Jace just popped up whenever they had the time to spare.

Sometimes, Magnus was there.

They saw each other every day, no matter how much Alec had to write, no matter how many clients Magnus had. Even if it was just sitting together in line at the coffee downstairs in the morning, they saw each other every day.

Magnus was back to his usual flirty self, and Alec was embarrassed by how much he enjoyed it.

And Magnus was right, because now that Alec knew the truth, it was better, because he didn’t shy away from using his powers. From getting them a snack to changing out of pajamas, blue sparks were flying everywhere, and Alec loved it.

A lot.

Probably a bit more than he loved Magnus.

Which… wasn’t that surprising, really. It was a pretty obvious course of events, Alec thought, that he fell in love with Magnus Bane.

∆

Over the course of the next months, Alec finished his entire series, much to his editor’s shock.

It was… incredible, to Alec, not only that he managed to finish these, but he was also so very proud of his story.

Yes, his main characters turned out to be in love with each other, and yes, both of them were guys, and one of them was human and the other one was a vampire. And yes, the book ended with an alliance forming between all the downworlders… In a perfect world, this would have been Alec’s world.

But it was not. Still, Alec was so very happy of his story.

∆

Not a lot changed over the next two years, time in which his series was being published.

Alec was still writing, a new series this time, set in the same universe, but a story told from a demon’s perspective.

He saw his family every Sunday morning. He saw Max every Wednesday night. He saw Izzy and Jace every time they saw fit.

Max grew up, started weapons training.

Izzy started dating a seelie.

Jace started screwing around.

Magnus stopped screwing around.

A few things changed, though.

Alec got a gym membership. And one to a shooting range, after Magnus bought him a state of the art bow for his birthday.

He got an agent. And a twitter and instagram. Every time one of his books launched, he did a couple of interviews and book signings.

When Magnus flirted, Alec flirted back.

Magnus started calling him ‘Alexander’, every now and then. Alec didn’t mind it, because it was always said in a soft breathless way that made his knees go weak.

He was invited to every one of Magnus’s parties. He showed up sometimes, at first freaking out all the downworlders. They got used to him, eventually, and now Alec was actually on texting terms with Raphael, his second in command and Luke, the leader of the werewolf pack.

But everything changed the week his final book came out.

∆

The day it launched, Alec didn’t see Magnus, because he was locked away in his bedroom, reading.

He was too nervous to write, too angsty to sit still, so Alec went to the shooting rage, where he spent a couple of hours in contempt.

On his way back, he didn’t even realize it, but he took a detour, bringing him in front of the Institute.

The doors were on fire.

There were three dead shadowhunters on the steps. And Alec saw … some sort of demons going inside, he didn’t recognize the type, but they were definitely not human.

Alec spared a moment to text Magnus before he ran into the Institute. His arrows wouldn’t do much, they were just normal arrows, but maybe they’d distract the demons enough for the shadowhunters to kill them.

The command center was in chaos. Shadowhunters were fighting these things, who seemed ruthless. They looked like zombies, really, and Alec felt sick to his stomach.

Robert and Maryse were fighting back to back, shielding Max from the demons and the fight. Izzy and Jace were fighting close by, together with a redhead that Alec didn’t recognize.

He saw members of the Clave, the Inquisitor was wielding two katanas with impressive speed.

Magnus appeared by Alec’s side, taking in the scene in front of him with wide eyes and a sneer.

‘Max’, Alec said, and Magnus nodded, running to his side. He opened a Portal, sending Max through it.

After he did that, the warlock jumped into the fight, and so did Alec. He ran up a set of stairs, careful to keep his back covered, but the vantage point offered him the ability to look over the entire fight.

Alec was distracted by a spark of blue enveloping him, but he was used to Magnus’s magic by now. When the sparks were gone, the arrows in his quiver were replaced with adamas made ones.

He still felt their power, the heavenly fire running through them. And now, Alec’s arrows will do harm against the demons.

It was easy, surprisingly so, for him to slip into fighting mode. It has been … _years_ , but Alec never once faltered, never once made a mistake, never once missed a shot.

He saved the Inquisitor three times. Izzy twice. His parents four times. Magnus once.

Alec saved Jace six times, because he was distracted with protecting the redhead, who obviously didn’t have enough training.

At one point, Jace had to rush to Izzy’s side, so Alec made his way to the redhead, because it was clear that’s what his parabatai wanted. He protected her, as she was struggling.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the fight was over and all the demons were dead, ichor pooling on the ground.

The redhead groaned, loudly, and Alec looked over just in time to see her toppling over. He caught her, and gently lowered her to the ground.

‘Oh’, she said, looking at him with wide eyes. Then, she ran her fingers over the scar on his neck. ‘You’re Alec.’

Jace came over, carefully cradling the girl’s head in his lap, and she sagged completely against him. Well, Alec gulped, that explained it.

‘What the hell are these things?’, he asked.

‘Forsaken’, Jace’s brows were pinched. ‘Valentine’s doing.’

That had Alec reeling back, but before he could say a word, the Inquisitor’s voice boomed.

‘That’s enough, Jace Wayland!’

Alec was quick to snap up and straighten his back, Jace and the girl following more slowly and with a lot of groans involved.

‘What in the Angel’s name are you doing here, Lightwood?’, the Inquisitor asked, angrily glaring at him.

Alec regarded her with a calm look.

‘I frequent a shooting range that’s a couple of blocks from here, Madam Inquisitor. The Institute is on my way home, and I saw what was happening.’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘And you just _happened_ to have shadowhunter weapons with you?’

‘That was my doing’, Magnus came to their side, followed closely by Alec’s parents. ‘Good thing too’, the warlock smiled easily, ‘You’re an exquisite archer.’

Alec shook his head. ‘Where’s Max?’, he asked in a small voice.

‘My place’, Magnus nodded. ‘I’ll go get him.’

He didn’t wait for anybody to dismiss him, before stepping through a portal. The Inquisitor kept glaring at Alec, even after Magnus came back and Max ran straight to Alec.

He picked him up, hugging Max tightly, assuring himself that his brother wasn’t hurt.

The Inquisitor sighed.

‘Get out of here, Lightwood. You’re not welcomed in the Institute anymore.’

Alec winced, closing his eyes. But he kissed Max’s forehead before putting him down and he smiled at his parents before heading to the door.

‘Alexander’, Magnus stopped him.

When Alec turned around, there was a Portal behind him.

‘Would you be so kind to feed my cat? I haven’t had the time to take care of him today. Plus, he likes you more than he likes me.’

Oh, no, Alec thought, just as the Inquisitor spluttered at Magnus. The Clave wasn't supposed to know they were neighbours. 

But… But Alec trusted Magnus, he knew what he was doing. So Alec nodded, making his way through the Portal.

∆

Magnus didn’t come home for three days.

On the fourth day, he knocked on Alec’s door, not saying anything as he gave him an envelope with the Clave’s seal on it.

Alec read the letter while holding his breath.

In a month’s time, he was expected at the Institute, for a meeting with the Clave. The letter didn’t say what the meeting will be about, but it said that all connections he still had with the shadowhunters will be severed in the mean time.

‘Unfortunately, it’s for real this time’, Magnus sighed. ‘Your family agreed not to see you anymore.’

Alec’s heart shattered and Magnus was quick to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

‘It’s for your own safety’, he said softly, and Alec knew it, but it still hurt.

‘You can’t tell me about Valentine, can you?’

Magnus shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. But know that…’, he took a deep breath. ‘None of us are staying idle right now. We’re still fighting.’

Alec had no idea what that meant. But he let Magnus fuss over him, getting him a chocolate cake and glass after glass of wine, until Alec fell into a restless sleep.

∆

Three days later, Magnus came over with breakfast early one morning. Alec hadn’t slept yet, spent all night writing, but Magnus was always welcome.

He was acting weird, though, Alec couldn’t help but notice. The warlock kept _looking_ at Alec, when he thought he wouldn’t be noticed and a couple of times, he opened his mouth like he was going to say something, only to stop halfway through a word.

‘What’s wrong?’, Alec finally asked.

Magnus shook his head. ‘Nothing, I just… Alexander, that’s something I wish to discuss with you.’

Alec felt dread pooling in his stomach, but Magnus smiled at him.

‘We haven’t talked about your book.’

Alec laughed. ‘I forgot about it completely.’

‘I haven’t’, Magnus said slowly. ‘You see, your books… They mean a lot to me.’

Alec was rendered speechless.

‘Not just to me, but to the downwordler community. Because… it may not be a story about _us_ , but it is, it could be.’

‘The Clave makes it impossible to be a reality’, Alec said in a low voice, making Magnus sigh.

‘In any case, it’s very important, Alec.’

He shook his head, but Magnus cut him off.

‘It is, because you’re a Lightwood, _the_ Alexander Lightwood. Your name holds great value in the Downworld as much as it does in Idris, and everybody knows what you did. Really’, he snorted, ‘there hasn’t been this much gossip about a gay man since I had a thing with the Seelie Queen’s second in command.’

Alec pulled a face.

‘The point is’, Magnus said strongly, ‘the fact that you, a shadowhunter who has been raised to hate downworlders all his life, you wrote this story, of alliances and friendship, of love and …’, he sighed deeply, looking at Alec with a look so soft it broke his heart a little.

‘Alec, if _you_ of all people can still think like this… there’s hope.’

‘That’s a ridiculous thing to say, Magnus’, Alec managed to breathe out in a shaky way.

Magnus shook his head, grabbing hold of Alec’s hand and holding on tightly.

‘It’s not, my dear Alexander. I see it every day. Since your last book came out, nobody has been speaking about anything else. Things are changing, I can _feel_ it, deep inside my chest.’

He paired this with putting his free hand there, his rings clacking against the multiple necklaces he was wearing.

‘The Clave will never be convinced.’

Magnus smiled. ‘We can’t foresee the future, but for once in centuries, Alec, we can hope.’

He couldn’t wrap his head around what Magnus was saying, it was an impossible thing to think about.

But Magnus wasn’t done yet, that much was clear by the tight grip he had on Alec’s fingers and by the way he was biting on his lower lip.

‘You mean a lot to me, Alexander’, Magnus said next, completely stealing his breath. ‘Before you came into my life, I haven’t… let anyone in for centuries, least of all a shadowhunter.’

‘I’m not a shadowhunter’, Alec couldn’t help but point out, making Magnus shoot him a mocking look.

‘You will always be a shadowhunter, darling, and that is just one of the reasons I care for you so deeply.’

‘I do too’, Alec had to say, blushing all the way down his neck. ‘You’re a good friend, Magnus. You’ve helped me a lot.’

Magnus brought their still clasped hands to his lips, gently kissing Alec’s knuckles, making him gasp.

‘You’re not understanding what I’m saying, are you?’, Magnus smiled fondly at him.

Alec swallowed, hard. ‘I do understand but… it’s too good to be true.’

Magnus giggled at that.

‘Oh, Alexander’, was all he said, before he surged forward and kissed Alec.

It was soft, a stark contrast with everything that Magnus was: a flamboyant man and a powerful warlock. Alec whined, a noise he had never made before in his life, before he managed to move and grab hold of Magnus’s shoulders, bringing him in, as close as he could get.

It was Alec that ran his tongue against the other man’s lips, but it was Magnus that sat up from his chair and straddled Alec’s thighs, not once breaking the kiss.

And when the chair tipped backwards, it was Magnus that cradled Alec’s head with his hands to soften the blow as they hit the ground.

They both laughed, and Magnus sagged against Alec’s chest, his entire body relaxing, pushing his face into the crook of Alec’s neck, kissing the skin there.

‘What does the Clave want with me?’, Alec asked.

Magnus sighed. ‘I don’t know, I promise I don’t.’

He moved then, slowly shifting his hips against Alec’s.

‘But I can maybe make you forget about it for a while.’

There was a smirk on Magnus’s lips and a fire in Alec’s chest, and, really-

‘Is this real?’, Alec asked somewhat breathlessly. ‘Are you really-‘

Magnus kissed him then, stronger than before, and he didn’t stop, not even when they moved from the floor to the couch.

∆

For the next month, Alec and Magnus settled into their relationship.

That meant a lot of kisses, a whole lot of pet names (coming from Magnus), even more kisses (the usual response Alec had to those pet names), a few nights spent together, a bit of sex.

Okay, a lot of sex after the first night they spent together.

In the aftermath of it, Alec was immensely glad that they were the only people in the building. Because he knew, first hand, how thin the walls were, and he was aware, of how loud both of them were.

When he told Magnus this, the warlock laughed for a long while.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It was, when they were together, but Alec had various appearances scheduled because of his books, and Magnus kept working.

Sometimes, he disappeared in the middle of the night, after a short phone call from Maryse.

Alec didn’t know what was happening, but he knew that Valentine was somehow back and that it was … bad. He couldn’t speak with his family, but every time Magnus came back to him, he assured Alec that they were okay.

It wasn’t enough, but it was all Alec was going to get.

∆

When Alec stepped into the Institute on the day of his meeting, he froze.

Because this wasn’t a meeting, it was a _trial_.  For him, probably.

The majority of the Clave were sitting at a long table in the back of what was usually the center command room. There was a smaller table at the side of it, with a single chair, meant for Alec. They weren’t the only ones there, the rest of the New York shadowhunters sitting on chairs around the room. There were a few vampires with Raphael, a few werewolves, a Silent Brother.

His parents were there, Max and Izzy too, Jace and the redhead. Magnus was there as well, but it was Izzy that stood up and made her way to Alec’s side, kissing his cheek.

‘Looking good, big brother.’

Alec blushed. Yes, he was looking good, in a very expensive suit.

‘I had an interview this morning’, he said gruffly, hoping she would let him drop.

Of course, this was Izzy. She smirked. ‘That does tend to happen when you’re on the New York Times' Best Seller list.’

‘Alexander Gideon Lightwood’, the Inquisitor’s voice echoed, ‘please step forward.’

He did so, straightening his back, and wordlessly stood on the chair he was supposed to.

‘I wasn’t aware this was a trial’, he couldn’t help but say.

‘This is a trial to determine whether or not you will be allowed to come back to the ranks of the shadowhunters’, the Inquisitor said.

Alec… stopped breathing, staring at her with what was probably a wild look.

‘We have heard various testaments in the past days’, she went on, ignoring his reaction, ‘from your family, shadowhunters and downworlders as well.’

At that, Alec turned to look at Magnus. Who was smirking, sitting next to Raphael, who was grinning wildly, his fangs flashing.

‘I wasn’t aware of that either’, Alec said, in lack of anything better.

‘Lydia Branwell’, she said next, gesturing to a young woman that was sitting in the front row. ‘Your witness.’

Alec didn’t know this woman, but she smiled kindly at him, stopping in front of his desk.

‘Pleasure to meet you, Alec’, is what she started with, and Alec nodded, politely at her.

‘I haven’t been present at your other trial, but I have read the statements and I find that there are several questions that should have come up, but did not.’

Alec just raised an eyebrow, because at his last trial, he wasn’t asked a single question.

‘Why did you do it?’, Lydia went on, making Alec’s eyes grow wide.

‘Why did you come out the way you did?’, she clarified, and Alec tilted his head.

He looked to Izzy, who was grinning, and nodding widely. It wasn’t like Alec had anything more to lose, so he decided he will answer the questions truthfully.

‘I was drunk’, he said, making Lydia blink at him. ‘I wasn’t used to alcohol, and I had a glass of wine then. Didn’t really think of what I was saying.’

‘So you… didn’t want to do it?’, Lydia frowned.

Alec shook his head.

‘You… would have kept it a secret?’

‘Yes’, it was Alec’s turn to frown, because Lydia looked mildly shocked.

‘But why?’

Alec chuckled a bit, shaking his head. ‘Because I would have still been here!?’

Lydia shook herself out of it, then, going back to a kind but professional expression.

‘Could you please talk about what having your marks stripped meant.’

‘Well’, Alec took a second to gather his thoughts. ‘On a basic level, it means scars. I’m wearing makeup now’, he pointed to his neck, ‘cause I had a… thing. Anyway’, he shook his head. ‘The process itself hurt like nothing I’ve ever felt before, and they still hurt for a couple of months, till they scared.’

Lydia’s jaw was dropped. ‘Really?’

Alec realized then, that this was… the first time the Clave and the rest of the shadowhunters talked with someone stripped of his marks. They never came back, most of them died in the mundane world. This was new information, straight from the source. It brought Alec strength to keep on talking.

‘My parabatai rune still hurts sometimes’, he admitted. ‘The first months were horrible, not just because of the pain. I… Nobody in this room will ever understand what this means for a shadohunter, being torn apart from everything I was raised to... Mundanes would call it depression, but that can’t even begin to explain what I was feeling. If I wouldn’t have seen a therapist, a half-fay who knew about the shadow world, I…’

‘What, Alec?’, Lydia asked, very soft.

Alec shrugged. ‘There really wasn’t any point for me to live anymore, and I would have ended it.’

‘But you didn’t.’, Lydia pointed out. ‘I questioned your therapist’, Alec was shocked by this, ‘and she said that you were stopped by a series of things.’

Alec hesitated.

‘We know about your books’, Lydia smiled. ‘And that you kept talking with your family and with Warlock Bane.’

Alec turned to look, with wide eyes, at the Inquisitor.

‘Answer the question, Mr. Lightwood. Just because you didn't sware on the Mortal Sword, that doesn't mean you are not still expected to tell the truth.’

‘I started writing the books as a coping mechanism.', Alec started, slowly. 'It worked, it worked well, it was something that kept me sane so I kept at it. I didn’t know Magnus before he moved in next to me, and he didn’t reveal what he was to me, neither did my siblings, until they were forced to.’

Lydia nodded. ‘We know the incident, Isabelle has told us all about it.’

Alec just shook his head. ‘This is very confusing’, he admitted. ‘All I did, since the moment those words came out of my mouth, was to break the shadowhunter law. I befriended a warlock, to begin with, and met a lot of other downworlders through him, I kept in touch with my family, I-

‘And you fought for this Institute when it was attacked.’

Alec sighed. ‘I couldn’t care less about the Institute.’

His statement was met with silence.

‘I never really cared about the Clave and its laws.’, Alec went on. ‘All my life, I have been taught to respect them, but… The only reason I fought to become a good shadowhunter was because it gave me the opportunity to protect my family. That was and always will be the most important thing to me. Having Izzy and Jace’s back, Max’s too when he grows up… I’m the big brother. I have to do anything in my power to protect my siblings.’

‘You would have lived your life lying, about yourself, about your sexuality, in order to protect them.’, Lydia said.

Alec nodded, smiling a bit.

‘And the Clave took that from you, your purpose in life, when they stripped you of your marks.’

Alec nodded. ‘As I said, there weren’t any reasons to keep on living.’

Lydia looked away at that, taking a deep breath before turning back to Alec.

‘The books you wrote, are they a way to talk about the shadow world to the mundanes?’

Alec snorted. ‘No, they’re anything but.’

‘Are we supposed to ignore the similarities?’, Lydia asked, a bit gruffly.

‘Wait’, Alec frowned. ‘Did you read them?’

Lydia raised an eyebrow. ‘Your trial started three weeks ago. It’s safe to say everybody in this room has read them by now.’

‘Oh’, Alec breathed out, the discussion he had with Magnus on the day they got together suddenly making a lot of sense.

‘It was never my intention to divulge anything to the mundanes’, he said. ‘I just pictured a perfect world and wrote about it.’

He was met with silence.

‘Lightwood’, the Inquisitor said. ‘We’re at war. Valentine has returned and the threat is imminent. The Clave has been forced to ally itself with the downworlders in order to fight a common enemy. Valentine is after the Mortal Cup, he’s making Forsaken and his sole purpose is to exterminate the shadowhunters.’

Alec stared.

‘Do you understand the gravity of the situation?, the Inquisitor insisted, eyes boring into his.

‘Yes’, Alec breathed out.

‘We need all the shadowhunters we can get, and you, Alexander Lightwood, are one of the best.’

 _You will have to pass the tests necessary to achieve Ascension_ , the Silent Brother said in everyone’s mind. _We can start as soon as possible._

‘Wait’, Alec said, turning to look at the Inquisitor.

‘You’re letting me be a shadowhunter again?’

She nodded.

‘Are you willing to ignore the fact that I am gay?’

The Inquisitor paused. ‘It was decided that the homosexuality law will be eradicated.’

Alec didn’t find it in himself to be glad about that. He looked to Magnus, who must have known what he was thinking, because he nodded, just once.

Alec turned back to the Inquisitor. ‘Are you willing to ignore the fact that I am dating a downworlder?’

Her eyes grew wide at that, and she shared a couple of wordless looks with people from the Clave.

Then she ran a hand over her face, looking completely exhausted.

‘Our world is changing, and the Clave doesn’t have the luxury of ignoring it anymore.’

There was a pause.

‘Is that a yes?’, Alec asked, earning a few giggles and snorts from the room, and a glare from the Inquisitor.

‘It is a yes, because nobody in their right mind would want to get on Magnus Bane’s bad side.’

Magnus was the only one to giggle at that.

‘You leave for Idris tomorrow’, the Inquisitor said to Alec, before closing the trial, completely ignoring the applauses and yells coming from the room.

And then Alec was surrounded by his family, getting hugs and kisses all around, and then Magnus was kissing him and Alec may have been crying, but for once in four years, they were happy tears.

∆

Once in Idris, everybody kept _staring._ It was understandable, Jace babbled about how everybody and their son read Alec’s books and how the only reason the Clave agreed to everything they had was because of peer pressure.

Alec passed the Ascension tests with flying colors. Ragnor Fell, the warlock who supervised them, threw him a look that not only informed Alec that he knew about how he helped Max with his homework, but also that if Alec ever hurt Magnus, Ragnor will kill him.

They were friends, Alec knew as much. It was nice to know there were other people who cared about Magnus as much as he did.

The Ascension itself was a quick ceremony. As soon as he drank from the Mortal Cup, he could _feel_ power cursing through his veins again, and when he looked down at his hands, his scars were gone, replaced, once again, with runes.

During the parabatai ceremony, Jace kept grinning like a mad man, and really, Alec felt the same way. Izzy and the redhead were their witness, and it was only after that, after they all returned to the New York institute, after they got hugs from their family, it was only after that when Alec turned to frown at the redhead.

‘I still don’t know who you are.’

She looked up at him with wide eyes, it was quite comical, because she was so short.

‘Uhm, that’s kind of a long story’, she said, blushing slightly.

‘And it’s about time you heard it’, Maryse said gruffly.

Alec spent the rest of the day in Magnus’s apartment, with him, with his family. With Clary and her best friend Simon, the newly turned vampire. With Raphael, his clan’s leader, with Luke, the werewolf pack Alpha and the man Clary regarded as her father.

He heard the story of Valentine’s rise, and yes, they did have a lot of work to do.

∆

Alec fought in the war.

In the spare moments he had, he finished writing his second series.

When the war ended, Magnus and Alec lead the movement that eventually made the Clave accept downworlders on their council.

In the months that followed, as Alec moved into Magnus’s apartment, his was turned into a set of offices: for Alec Lightwood – the writer, and for Magnus Bane – The High Warlock of Brooklyn.


	5. Clary & Magnus: Smol & Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aishwarya Kamaraj requested some Clary and Magnus brotp.  
> Five times Clary was Magnus’s friend. And one time he was hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't get the chance to proof read this one, so pleaaaase tell me if there are obnoxious typos.

**→One**

Luke was still resting in Magnus’s bed, but he didn’t care, because Alec spent the night on his couch, sipping on sweet cocktails and positively sweeping Magnus off his feet.

But around them life moved on, and come morning, Alec had to return to the Institute. It was an awkward goodbye, half-mumbled words and blushing cheeks, and it was all thrown out the window when Alec opened the door and was met with the sight of Clary.

Alec froze, paling instantly.

‘Good morning’, Clary said after a beat. Alec opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything. Magnus couldn’t help but glare at the young woman.

‘Oh, Alec’, she said next. ‘Thank you. I didn’t even think to set up a watch, I just assumed Magnus…’, she shook her head, before smiling brightly at both of them. ‘Well, I guess even the High Warlock of Brooklyn needs backup sometimes, right?’

Alec looked shocked, and Magnus was even more enamored by the fact that even when presented with the _perfect_ cop-out, he was too flustered to take it.

‘Yes’, Magnus said, ‘Alec was very thoughtful. Thankfully, there was no need. Luke is still healing and nobody has attacked.’

‘Thank you, Alec’, she said again, looking as if she was about to put her hand on his arm, but decided against it. ‘I’m going to take Luke to his pack now, he asked me to. You should go home’, she said a bit softer. ‘Get some sleep.’

Alec nodded, taking a step out of the apartment, before stopping and hesitantly looking at Clary.

‘Do you need backup?’

‘No’, she smiled. ‘I can handle a car drive, but thank you for offering.’

Alec nodded once, stiffly, and left without sparing Magnus another look.

Clary finally stepped into Magnus’s apartment, closing the door behind her. She smiled at him, wordlessly making her way towards the kitchen. Magnus followed her, frowning profoundly, and he watched as Clary kept pulling things out of her backpack, takeout boxes with a logo Magnus didn’t recognize.

‘What is this?’, he asked when she seemed to be done.

‘I wanted to thank you’, Clary said, making a point in meeting his eye. ‘For helping Luke.’

He tried to wave her off, but Clary didn’t let him.

‘I knew you weren’t going to accept payment, and I know there couldn’t possibly be anything I can buy you that you couldn’t buy yourself so…’, she took a deep breath and grinned, showcasing the multitude of boxes with a flourish. ‘These are the best cupcakes in New York!’

She was adorable, Magnus thought. A grown up young woman, dressed casually in jeans and a man’s plaid shirt (Jace’s? Simon’s?), with her bright red hair that was so stark against the white of his kitchen. Clary Fairchild, grinning innocently at him in the middle of a war, offering him sweets.

He said none of this out loud. What Magnus said, instead, was that he stopped eating sugar decades ago.

‘I figured’, she snorted. ‘No way you look like that’, she pointed at his chest and stomach, ‘and not eat super healthy. So these are the best sugar-free, fat free, completely organic cupcakes in New York.’

Magnus smiled at that, despite himself.

‘Thank you, Biscuit.’

She grinned at that, bouncing out of the kitchen to get Luke, but not before putting a hand on his arm and squeezing it gently.

The cupcakes were delicious, Magnus had to admit. Even if they brought back, full force, all the bad feelings he couldn’t help but feel when he erased her memories, all those years ago.

 

**→Two**

When his phone started ringing and Clary’s name blinked back at him, Magnus had half a mind not to answer. He buried Ragnor a couple of hours ago. Alec was getting married in a couple of hours.

What could she possibly want? He wasn’t up for it.

But something might have happened, so he did pick up and asked what was wrong.

‘Nothing’, came her quick response. ‘I mean, everything, but nothing right now. Uhm. I have a question.’

She sounded very hesitant, and Magnus sighed deeply, feeling exhaustion cursing through his veins.

‘How good are you with makeup?’

That… ‘What?’, Magnus deadpanned.

‘I have to go to the wedding’, she all but whined. ‘And mom always did my makeup for formal stuff, and I’m too shaky to do it on my own, and Izzy is too busy with everything, and I just…’

She sighed, deeply. ‘Help, please?’

‘Clary’, Magnus said as strongly as he could. ‘There’s no way I’m stepping inside the Institute today.’

‘I can get a cab’, she said quickly. ‘Bring all my stuff, get ready at your apartment. You can make me a Portal afterwards.’

He didn’t say anything.

‘Please, Magnus. I… I need a break and there’s no one else I can ask.’

She sounded pitiful, she sounded as awful as he felt, so Magnus agreed.

Clary turned up in a pair of jeans and a hoodie, with her hair still wet and dark green dress in hand.

She did her own hair, and Magnus just watched her. He sat on his bed as Clary wielded hair curlers and straighteners at his vanity, babbling along about… things that just skimmed the important issues. About how Simon was going to be her date, about how happy Izzy was happy that Jace and Alec solved their issues, about how many people were in the Institute.

Magnus just listened to her, happy to have something _else_ to think of.

When it was time for him to do her makeup, she just asked ‘Not too much glitter, please. I hate the way I keep finding it a week later.’

It was a silent affair, Clary sitting with her eyes closed and Magnus wielding brushes and makeup pallets. He could’ve done it all with a snap of his fingers, but he thought they both needed to take the longer road here. He got lost in the task at hand, so when Clary spoke, Magnus was startled.

‘How come you don’t have a cat?’

Magnus stared at her. ‘You’re being awfully weird today.’

Clary scoffed. ‘Did you ever have a cat? Named Chairman Meow, perhaps?’

‘That’s an awful name.’ A pause. ‘I kind of love it.’

She giggled at that. ‘What about Church?’

He froze at that, prompting her to open her eyes.

‘How do you know about Church?’

She seemed delighted. ‘So you did have a cat called Church!’

‘No, I…’, Magnus shook his head. ‘Church is a cat at the London Institute. It used to belong to one of the shadowhunters who lived there, and… There’s a long story, involving dark magic and unnatural machines.’

Clary’s eyes grew wide at that.

‘Bottom line’, Magnus smiled, ‘Church is a 140 year old cat who hates everyone except for his shadowhunter who is… long gone.’

‘Oh’, she said softly.

They were silent, as Magnus finished her makeup, but as he was done, he had to ask.

‘Who told you about Church?’

‘You did’, she said, making no sense. She got out her phone and clicked at it for a while, before extending it to Magnus.

‘The phone came back with me in the other dimension’, Clary said, and that explained the picture he was looking at.

It was a picture of him, but his hair was wrong and his clothes were utterly boring. There was a cat in his arms, and Magnus recognized the apartment in the background as his own, but decorated differently.

He swiped to the next picture, and Clary let him. There was another one of him, this time sitting on a couch with Church glaring at him.

And then there was a picture of a nerdy looking Isabelle and a cool looking Simon. They were holding hands, and that had Magnus’s eyebrows rise to his forehead.

‘Really?’, he asked.

Clary nodded, smiling. ‘They were going to move in together.’

Then a picture of Jace, looking as perfect as ever, smiling softly and wearing white. Odd, so odd.

Magnus’s breath hitched when he saw the next picture. It was Alec, a very soft looking Alec, in a blue polo shirt that made his eyes shine, with a hand wrapped around his sister, scowling at someone off camera (that, at least, was normal), looking like he had no care in the world.

‘He noticed you, you know’, Clary said. Magnus wasn’t able to look away from her phone.

‘There was a party’, she went on. ‘I tried to sneak you in, but it didn’t work. Alec saw you immediately, and he let you in, got you a drink. He… wouldn’t have left your side if we didn’t have work to do.’

Magnus closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before giving Clary her phone back.

‘I told you’, he said shakily, ‘I played my last card there.’

She shook her head, sadly. ‘I don’t think you did.’

Magnus glared at her, because she was _hurting_ him.

‘Magnus’, she said softly, ‘this isn’t just about the two of you. This is… it was a whole different dimension!’, she said somewhat reverently. ‘And the two of you were still drawn together. Before I left, I asked the other Magnus if he was willing to try. He said that… something was unlocked in him, and it was because of Alec’s eyes.’

Magnus flinched at that, hard. ‘It doesn’t mean that has to happen here’.

‘She’s right, you know’, a new voice said, and only Magnus heard it, because it was Ragnor.

‘I told you once’, the dead warlock went on, ‘that you like nothing better than a lost soul or a bad idea. This shadowhunter might just be the best bad idea you ever had.’

Magnus shook his head and Ragnor disappeared. But Clary was still there.

‘What could I possibly do more? Trust me’, he breathed out, ‘I’ve tried it all.’

‘I don’t know’, Clary admitted. ‘But you shouldn’t give up.’

That was the end of that discussion, and Clary looked beautiful when she left, a flash of red and green, and a soft kiss to Magnus’s cheek.

It wasn’t Clary that convinced him to make the Portal to the Institute. That was Ragnor.

However, when Clary sent him a wordless photo, of what was clearly Alec’s black, covered in white and gold… that was what prompted Magnus to not wear the usual shadowhunter wedding color.

In the end, he has no idea if the black suit he wore mattered, because Alec’s eyes rarely strayed away from his face.

 

**→Three**

The war against Valentine was raging, and everyone was running themselves exhausted, either fighting against him, or looking for Jace. Or in the case of a particular set of people, both.

But it wasn’t only that. Camille was loose, and enraged. A few parts of the Downworld and Shadow world were also fighting her.

And the bitch _hurt Alec_. She didn’t turn him, no, because she thought, in her fucked up brain, that Alec would enjoy that, being immortal alongside Magnus.

No, she just drained him of most of his blood, put some demon venom in him, broke a couple of bones and made a few new scars on his skin.

When Simon and Raphael brought Alec to the Institute, barely breathing in their arms, unconscious and as pale as the vampires, Magnus was as devastated as he was angry.

He yelled at Maryse to get out of his way, at one point. He’s pretty sure he cursed at Raphael when the vampire pointed out that he was running out of magic. He probably bruised Izzy’s skin, when she gave him her strength.

But he saved Alec. Damn it, he saved his life, even if Magnus exhausted himself completely while doing it. Alec will sleep for a long while, and Magnus had half a mind to call Catrina and ask her to make sure everything is alright, but Alec will heal.

Maryse tried to make him to leave.

‘Thank you for your help, warlock, you will be paid for your services. You’re dismissed.’

Magnus just… stared at her. He knew how much she hated him, how much she despised the fact that Alec was dating him, but this… this was worse than that.

‘No’, Isabelle said slowly, gravely. ‘Magnus will stay here until Alec asks him to leave.’

It was very reminiscent of what Magnus said at Alec’s almost-wedding. But, honestly, this time around, Magnus was prepared to slap Maryse away if she thought about forcing him to leave.

She stared at her daughter in quiet anger.

And then Max, sweet little Max, who Magnus didn’t even meet before today, he gently pushed at his mother’s stomach.

‘Go away, Mom, I’m sure there’s important adult business you need to stress over.’

He all but kicked her out of the infirmary, then high fived a grinning Izzy, before they all settled around Alec’s bed, waiting for him to wake up.

Magnus must have fallen asleep, because when he blinked awake, it was dark out and the Institute was silent.

Simon was picking Isabelle up from the chair she fell asleep in. She woke up, a bit, but didn’t mind Simon taking her to her bed.

Max woke up fully, but he still let Clary pick him up. She motioned for Magnus to follow, and he didn’t want to leave Alec, but he was fast asleep and there were other people in the infirmary, so he wouldn’t be alone.

Magnus followed Clary into Max’s room, waited for him to change into pajamas and smiled when Clary tucked him in and kissed his forehead, against the little boy’s protests.

Then Clary let him to her room and all but forced him into the shower. He needed it, though, the warm water soothed his muscles and the scent of Clary’s body wash calmed him, somewhat.

When he came out of the bathroom (wearing soft clothes stolen from Alec’s closet), Clary was sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed, surrounded by food.

‘Sit down and eat!’, she said sternly. ‘Alec would murder me if I wouldn’t take care of you.’

Magnus really couldn’t argue with that. It was only after the first bite of a grilled cheese sandwich that he realized he was famished. So he ate. A lot, all the food Clary made him, except for a piece of bacon she stole and a pancake.

‘You needed that’, she said smugly when he was done.

Magnus didn’t even have it in him to feel ashamed. As Clary cleared out the plates and took them off her bed, Magnus didn’t even realize he had lied down on it.

But Clary put a soft blanket over him, and Magnus’s eyes closed on their own accord.

He woke up just a few hours later, but he felt a whole lot better. His magic was back in full force and the exhaustion has left his body.

Clary was awake next to him on the bed, back against a headboard, reading what looked like the Shadowhunter Codex.

‘Thank you, Biscuit’, he whispered in the silence of the room, startling Clary, who didn’t realize he woke up.

She smiled softly at him, running her fingers through his hair.

‘Thank you for letting me take care of _you_ for a change. Alec should wake up soon.’

He got up at that, not bothering with changing his clothes before making his way to the infirmary.

Maryse was there, and Alec was up.

‘Oh, good’, Alec smiled widely at him. ‘She’ll leave now that you’re here.’

Magnus snorted at that, but he also made his way to his boyfriend’s side and kissed the hell out of him, to the background noise of Maryse’s heels leaving the room.

 

**→Four**

Magnus and Raphael were the only ones to realize how much of a threat Camille was.

Even if she almost killed Alec. Even if she turned Simon. Even if she screwed them over.

The shadowhunters were too busy fighting Valentine to care about Camille. The werewolves were too busy protecting Jocelyn and Luke to care about Camille.

But Raphael did, more than he cared about Valentine at the moment. And he came to Magnus, asking for help, thinking the warlock wasn’t going to give it to him, thinking he still cared for Camille.

That was so far away from the truth, it broke Magnus’s heart, a bit, that Raphael thought he would choose Camille over him.

Together they devised a plan, for the Clan to trap Camille and for Raphael to kill her, Magnus acting as backup.

Alec, bless his heart, would have come along for it, if Maryse hadn’t sent him on a mission to Norway. He hated it, Magnus could see it in his eyes, the urge to screw everything, screw the Clave for Magnus’s sake. He didn’t let Alec do it, of course, he was more than capable of taking care of himself, even if it was Camille. Plus, she hurt Alec before. Magnus wasn’t going to give her the opportunity to do it again.

So alone he went. Well, alone with the entire vampire clan of New York. And their brilliant plan was quickly set on fire.

Literally. Somehow, Camille had managed to trap all the vampires in a circle of fire, magic that stopped them from escaping.

So it was just Magnus and Raphael versus Camille.

And clearly she had another warlock on her side, because something was stopping Magnus from using his magic.

He still fought, though. With his bare hands and his legs, with his normal, human speed against a vampire he once loved. Raphael fought by Magnus’s side as well, but he was focusing on protecting the warlock, not on attacking Camille.

There was no way they were going to defeat her, not like this. Raphael was taking blows too often to be able to heal them, and Magnus saw him staggering.

He himself wasn’t faring much better, he felt broken ribs and he was bleeding from several places where her claws and teeth left marks.

And she kept talking. She kept saying Alec’s name, and the sound of it coming from her mouth made Magnus want to throw up.

He was going to die, he thought. He was going to die by the hands of the person he loved the most in this world, Raphael was going to watch it all, he was going to blame himself for his entire life, if Camille let him live, and the worst thing of it, was that Magnus regretted not telling Alec how much he loved him before he left.

Just as he was thinking this, Camille managed to push him to the ground. Raphael rushed to stand between the two of them, but Camille just snarled.

Her mistake was that she didn’t use her vampire speed to attack. Camille walked at a normal pace, taunting, and that made Clary able to catch up with her.

Magnus’s eyes widened when he saw her red hair behind Camille because no no no, she wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to be safe at the Institute, she-

She stabbed Camille with a seraph blade. It didn’t do much, Camille only waited for Clary to take her blade out before she snarled, turning to glare at her.

Raphael moved then, and Camille was quick to turn back around, completely ignoring Clary. She had her right hand around Raphael’s neck, and he tried to fight it, but Camille’s strength was larger than his.

Just as her other hand was closing in on his chest, right where his heart stood, a blur shoved Camille aside.

It took a few seconds for Magnus to realize that it was Simon, because he looked _nothing_ like Simon. He was dressed in all black shadowhunter gear, a quiver and bow on his back and knives dangling from his belt, and the look in his eyes was _feral_.

‘Stay away from my friends’, he said slowly and gravely.

Camille just laughed, launching herself forward. Simon pushed her back with a foot shoved at her stomach. He pushed her back hard, and she stared at him, incomprehensive.

‘Still a fledgling’, Simon said curtly. ‘Extra power.’

‘It does not matter’, Camille snarled. ‘I’ll kill you just as well.’

She tried. She tried hard, but Simon was stronger than her. Raphael joined the fight, as Clary came by Magnus’s side. She tried to help him up, but Magnus didn’t let her, too busy trying to look at the fight. She gave up, and just planted herself in front of him, seraph blade raised in front of her.

When Camille pushed Raphael back, when the sound of his neck cracking on a brick was painfully loud, Simon screamed, and it ended in a snarl.

He threw himself at Camille, but he didn’t attack anymore, not really. Instead, he incapacitated her, wrapping his arms around her chest and keeping her there, immobile.

‘Simon, what are you waiting for?’, Clary asked.

He shook his head. ‘Raphael’, was all he said, but Magnus realized that he had to be the one to do it. Because he’d become the Clan’s leader, truly this time.

Clary went over and tried to wake Raphael up, unsuccessfully. So she cut a line down her palm and dripped blood into his mouth, and the vampire did wake up at that, looking shocked at the sight of Camille and Simon.

‘You deserve to be the one to do it’, Simon said and he shared a long look with Raphael, before the older vampire advanced on Camille.

She snarled some words, hurtful and angry, but nobody listened. When Camille disappeared into a pile of ash, Magnus breathed for the first time that night and the only thing he was able to do was to lie down.

Clary was by his side quickly.

‘Why aren’t you healing?’, she asked somewhat desperately.

Magnus shook his head. ‘She did something, I don’t know what. How… Biscuit, why are you here?’

She pushed the hair out of Magnus’s face. ‘Alec was worried, but Maryse forbid us all to come and help you.’

Magnus stared at her. ‘You still came.’

Clary smiled at him. ‘Well, she has no say over Simon. And Izzy distracted her long enough for us to get out of the Institute. ’

She bit on her lower lip. ‘I’m going to have to call this in, though, because I don’t know how to help you.’

Magnus was able to tell her to call Catrina before he passed out.

He woke up in his bed, with Catrina bandaging his chest and Clary snoring next to him, snuggled up into a ball on top of the covers. She was wearing his pajamas.

‘You’ll be fine’, was the first thing Catrina told him. ‘And I don’t really know who this kid is, but she barely left your side in three days. Your other visitors are less annoying, Raphael and his fledgling, the Lightwood girl.’

Magnus smiled at that, and he tried to speak, but it ended up in a cough, his throat too dry. Clary was up with a yelp, and she said his name urgently before rushing to the bathroom and coming back with a glass of water.

‘I’ve been texting Alec constantly’, Clary said as he drank. ‘He freaked out when he found out what happened, but he couldn’t leave Norway just yet. Still, I… I was in the room when he phoned and yelled at his mother. He _yelled_ , Magnus’, Clary’s eyes were wide. ‘It was terrifying and so incredibly awesome.’

Her expression turned somber, after that. ‘I’m sorry about Camille. You cared for her, once.’

Magnus shook his head. ‘Those times are long gone.’

He let out a deep breath, and grabbed a hold of Clary’s hand, squeezing it tightly between his fingers, as tightly as he could.

‘Thank you for coming for us.’

She shook her head. ‘There was no way Simon and I were going to leave you and Raphael on your own. I just regret we didn’t get there sooner.’

Magnus shook his head again, unable to actually say the words out loud. But Clary must have read them in his eyes, because she smiled, bringing their clasped hands to her lips.

‘Come on, Bane. Get some more rest’, she smirked. ‘Your boyfriend’s going to be coming back soon, and I figure you’re going to need your strengths.’

Catrina snorted loudly at that, and Magnus fell asleep to the sound of her and Clary giggling, at his and Alec’s expense. He didn’t mind.

 

**→Five**

It wasn’t as if he and Alec were fighting, per say, but there were some heating discussions going around lately, all around the same topic.

Magnus understood it, he understood what Alec was saying, his fears and concerns, but they still hurt, and it wasn’t anything he could do about it.

He woke up one morning to find Alec next to him in bed, where he wasn’t the night before. Hell, he has never been in his bed before.

Magnus stared. At the sweatpants Alec was wearing, and the old t-shirt, at his sockless feet.

‘I’m sorry’, is what Alec started with, shocking Magnus even further.

Still, he shook his head. ‘You have nothing to apologize for.’

‘I do’, Alec breathed out slowly, grabbing a hold of Magnus’s hand.

‘I’ve been too caught up in … everything I’ve been feeling, to even think about what you’re going through. I mean, I knew it, I told you before, we’ve talked about what it means for you, losing the people you care for but… I never thought about what this is doing to you _now._ ’

‘What do you mean?’, Magnus frowned.

‘It was Clary that pointed it out to me’, Alec admitted, a bit bashfully, ‘that you might think I want to leave you.’

Magnus gulped. ‘The thought did cross my mind.’

A pained expression overcame Alec’s face. ‘Magnus, I swear to you, I didn’t… I don’t…’

He sighed, shaking his head, before lying down beside Magnus, so that they were facing each other, their clasped hands pushing on Alec’s chest.

‘I can’t do that’, Alec finally said, whispered really. ‘I do want us to be together, despite everything. I promise you that. Maybe I should leave, maybe it will make it easier for you when I do… die, but I can’t do that.’

Magnus took a shaking breath. ‘I wish I could make this easier for you. For both of us, but…’

‘You can’t’, Alec nodded. ‘I know that. I’m… I’m sorry for bringing it up.’

‘I knew it was going to be a problem’, Magnus admitted. ‘I just thought it would take a few more years.’

Alec, surprisingly, smiled at that.

‘We’ll be together in a few more years?’

Magnus chuckled, because his boyfriend was ridiculous for thinking anything else.

‘I love you, Alexander. How much more time is it going to take for you to understand what that means?’

Alec was blushing beautifully, but he was smiling. ‘Well, are we hurrying anywhere?’

Magnus laughed at that, finally kissing Alec. He was quick to respond, and they just lost themselves for a few minutes.

It became clear quickly, though, that Alec was pretty tired. So Magnus laid back against the pillows, intent on going back to sleep.

As Alec snuggled into his side, he couldn’t help but ask.

‘You talked to Clary about me?’

Alec sighed. ‘I like how… she never sugar coats things with me. Everybody else does it, Jace and Izzy. Never Clary.’

Magnus smiled, but didn’t say anything.

‘She told me I was stupid’, Alec went on. ‘That nothing else should matter, except for the fact that I… that you gave me access to your heart, that you fought for me, and that you’re willing to fight side by side me.’

‘That’s not the only thing that matters’, Magnus said. ‘What you feel matters as well.’

Alec chuckled. ‘You’re trying to make me say it back.’

Magnus was indeed, doing just that. It was a game, though, he didn’t mind that Alec was guarded with those words. Magnus knew they were true, anyway, even if Alec will never say them out loud.

‘Clary also said I should tell you’, Alec said next. ‘Make it special.’

‘I don’t like how much Clary is involved in our relationship’, Magnus said, completely not meaning it and making Alec laugh.

‘She cares about us’, Alec said. ‘And she’s right, so’, he was cut off by a yawn. ‘I’m going to tell you in about four hours, after you wake me up with kisses, after I wake up in your bed for the first time, after you take off my shirt and stop functioning for a while.’

Magnus giggled. ‘You plan too much.’

Alec snorted, snuggling further in his side and closing his eyes. ‘You plan too little.’

‘We cancel each other out, Clary would say’, Magnus pointed out.

Alec just snorted, clearly half way to being asleep.

He made true to his world in four hours, when Magnus did wake him up with soft kisses, and he did take off his shirt, and Magnus did stop functioning for a few seconds there. Alec brought him back, though, saying _I love you_ easily, with a lazy smile on his face and a beautiful blush on his cheeks.

 

**→Plus one**

Christmas wasn’t a big thing for shadowhunters. That much was clear, considering Magnus was in the Institute and there wasn’t any single decoration in sight.

Except for Clary’s room, which was _fully_ decorated. There was even a Christmas tree in the corner, there were fairy lights hung around the walls and they were all sitting around the tree on blankets and pillows.

Magnus and Alec exchanged gifts in the morning, proving that they were both children at heart, too excited to wait, so there were no presents between them.

It was chaotic, Magnus thought, the whole process of exchanging gifts, and it has been a very very long time since he experienced anything even remotely similar. But Alec’s hand was in his, and Max was plastered to Magnus’ side after the warlock gave him a (very old, very expensive, very beautiful) Grimm fairy tale book, and everybody was laughing and leaking excitement through every pore. It was amazing.

Magnus kept the gift for Clary and Jace last. When he extended the key to them, they both frowned down at it.

‘Uh, thanks for nothing?’, Jace said, earning an elbow to the stomach from Clary.

‘What is this, Magnus?’, she asked politely.

‘A key, d’uh’, Jace said, getting himself smacked on the head this time.

‘It is a key, yes’, Magnus rolled his eyes. ‘To my apartment in Paris.’

Clary looked up at that.

‘I got mom to give you both a couple of weeks off’, Alec added.

‘Guys’, Clary said shakily, looking at them with wide eyes.

‘On one condition!’, Magnus said as strongly as he could. ‘You’, he pointed at Jace, ‘do not break anything, and you’, he pointed to Clary, ‘you promise me you’ll go to the Musée D’Orsay as well, not just the Louvre.’

Clary screeched loudly at that, throwing the key at Jace’s face, before she swung herself forward and wrapped a hand around both Magnus and Alec. They both fell down with the surprising force of the tiny girl, so they ended up on their backs with Clary sprawled on top of both of them.

Magnus didn’t mind, not when Clary kept saying _thank you, thank you_ over and over again, taking turns kissing their cheeks, not when Alec was laughing by his side, their hands still clasped together, somewhere under Clary’s stomach, not when Jace was saying ‘By the Angel, woman, let them breathe!’, not when Izzy was filming the whole thing, and not when Max yelled ‘Group hug!’ and happily joined the embrace.


	6. Alec/Magnus: Alec vs. Magnus's Arrows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eight random moments involving Alec and Magnus's arrow-shaped jewlery. 
> 
> Not gonna lie, some of these were inspired by [@su-pectrum](http://su-pectrum.tumblr.com) art. Especially [this one](http://su-pectrum.tumblr.com/post/144823547759/what-if-magnus-wore-all-the-arrow-jewellery-at).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fun. Not gonna lie, though, most of the ideas were already there (in my brain), cause of the years I've been writing Arrow fics.

They’ve been dating for two months, give or take, when Robert cornered Alec after a strategy meeting. Magnus had just left, in a flourish of blue sparks, with a innocent kiss to Alec’s cheek and a flirty wink.

Alec’s father was chuckling as Magnus left through the Portal. Maryse was glaring at him, but Robert didn’t seem to care, coming to Alec’s side.

‘You were always drawn to shiny things when you were little.’

Alec stared with a horrified expression.

‘No, really’, Robert laughed. ‘The seraph blades, your mother’s jewelry, Izzy had this sparkly silver dress, Christmas lights, glitter pens… You just wanted to play with them.’

‘Really?’, Alec gulped.

‘Oh yeah’, his father was grinning. ‘The shinier the better. You grew into it, but…’, he shrugged. ‘It doesn’t get shinier than Magnus Bane, does it?’

His father was teasing, Alec realized with a start.

He was right, though. Because Alec remembered, the first time he saw Magnus at Pandemonium, that his eyes were drawn to the glitter on Magnus’s cheekbones, before anything else. And a couple of days later, as Magnus fell into his arms, as Alec lent him his strength, he spent an embarrassing amount of time staring at the glitter under Magnus’s eyes.

And since then, Alec always noticed the glitter. Recently, he started noticing the jewelry too.

It was a full time job, looking at that, because it seemed that Magnus never wore anything twice. Not the rings, not the bracelets, the necklaces. The only things that went on for a couple of days were some of the earrings, the cuffs and the industrial one.

And Alec always noticed them when they changed.

He was blushing, probably, judging by his father’s look.

‘You’ve got some glitter’, he pointed at Alec’s neck and he scowled, because there was no way it was true.

Robert just laughed, as he made his way out of the room.

 

**→One**

They were in Idris, summoned to a meeting to discuss future strategy against Valentine. But Downworlders representatives were called as well, because the Clave wanted to make sure they were on their side.

Magnus was there, of course, speaking for the warlocks. His outfit was subdued, somewhat, a pair of black leather pants, a dark gray shirt with the sleeves tastefully folded up, and a black vest. The black makeup he wore only completed the look, making him look stylishly evil. He did it on purpose, Alec thought. His boyfriend was ridiculous.

Alec looked to his jewelry. Magnus only wore three rings in total, and two bracelets on one hand. His earrings weren’t anything special, except for the industrial piercing, which was new. And shaped as an arrow.

Suddenly, Alec became very aware of the glamoured bow and quiver on his back. His heart did something funny in his chest, and he couldn’t look away from Magnus’s piercing for a long while.

He loved it, really he did. It made him feel warm all over, because Alec knew that Magnus wore the piercing for him. It was just something ridiculous that Magnus was fully capable of doing.

Izzy elbowed Alec, startling him.

‘You’re staring’, she said, a little bit disappointed, a lot amused.

Alec turned his attention back to the meeting.

He didn’t say anything to Magnus, not really. But later that night, as they went on a walk on a field at the edge of Alicante, as Magnus magicked a blanket and they sat down on it, Alec couldn’t help but run his tongue around the arrow piercing.

 

**→Two**

Alec woke up way too early one morning and found Magnus in the training room, putting up more wards to the Institute. Training forgotten, Alec spent the morning following his boyfriend around, chatting easily as he did his magic.

But he couldn’t help but stare, because Magnus the Warlock was a thing of beauty. The way he moved his fingers, the flourish and elegance of it, was something shadowhunters didn’t get to see that often. The blue sparks, while Alec was used to them by now, they still made him feel oddly playful and giddy.

And this morning, Alec stared for a long while at one of the bracelets Magnus was wearing. It was a silver one, shaped as an arrow that wrapped around his wrist. It always turned around when Magnus did his magic movements, but every now and again, Magnus would turn it back, so that the arrow head and fletching would be visible.

Once again, it made Alec feel all warm inside. Maybe that’s why he insisted on making Magnus breakfast, and eating it together in Alec’s bed.

 

**→Three**

It was just a random Friday, and they were supposed to go out to dinner with Raphael and his second, Lily. Nothing special, just a downworlder diner that served human food, as well.

Alec only noticed it once they reached the front door, and the lights inside illuminated Magnus’s face. He was wearing minimal makup, just a line of black across his eyelid, but towards the eyebrow, it ended in a stylized arrow head.

‘You’re ridiculous’, he told Magnus around a smile.

‘Yes’, came the quick response. ‘Wait, why?’

Alec just kissed him, not bothering with an answer. Magnus didn’t seem to mind. They had to cut it short, though, because they were interrupted by the distinct sounds of Raphael gagging and Lily giggling.

 

**→Four**

Summer in New York was a terrible thing that Magnus seemed to thrive in. Alec got used to finding him on the balcony of his loft, tanning.

This time, though, when Alec was able to look away from the vast expanse of chest, glistening because of the oil that Magnus used when he was tanning, he was able to notice that the warlock had a piece of cardboard stuck to his collar bone, a piece shaped as a simple arrow.

‘What the hell?’, Alec asked, eyes not moving away.

‘It’s the latest trend, darling’, Magnus smiled. ‘Controlled tan lines. It’s a sort of temporary tattoo, isn’t it?’

Ridiculous, Alec thought. His boyfriend was absolutely ridiculous. And adorable, a voice that sounded like Izzy sounded in Alec’s head, because this was one of the way Magnus was showing his affection. He was literally branding himself with Alec’s sign, because the arrows were _his_ , and it was ridiculous and absolutely perfect.

Careful to not move the arrow shaped cardboard, Alec kissed Magnus hard, running his fingers over all the skin he had at his disposal.

Magnus tried to convince him to join him, but Alec didn’t agree to it. He couldn’t get a tan, he could only get sunburn, there was no point. Magnus pouted, but he did magic an umbrella over another lounge chair, which Alec was glad to claim as his own.

 

**→Five**

Jace was staring at Magnus. They were around a table in his loft, discussing strategy (did they ever do anything else, these days?), and Jace was  s t a r i n g.

‘What?’, Alec elbowed him.

‘Earrings’, was all Jace said, and Alec smirked.

He had noticed them, of course. Not only were the silver long earrings dangling from Magnus’s ears a style he never really wore before, but they were also distracting, glinting with every movement of his head.

Also, they were arrow shaped, the fletching on the ear and the arrow head hanging an inch lower.

‘What about them?’, Alec insisted, finally making Jace look at him.

‘I don’t know if it’s disturbing or adorable.’

Alec looked down at that, smiling. ‘It’s nice’, he said. ‘He’s been doing it for a while.’

‘Really?’, Jace’s eyebrows were up to his forehead.

Alec shrugged, unperturbed. ‘Wouldn’t you like it, if Clary wore the Wayland symbol?’

There was a pause. ‘That’s different, though.’, Jace said, an odd tone in his voice.

‘Not really’, Alec shrugged, again. ‘Because you’re the only Wayland left, it’s _your_ symbol. And the arrows are mine.’

‘By the Angel’, Jace breathed out after a beat. ‘You really like it.’

Alec blushed, despite himself. ‘I don’t think there are a lot of things about Magnus that I don’t like.’

‘I’m starting to see that, yeah’, Jace snorted, effectively catching everyone’s attention.

‘Sorry’, he said. ‘We’re done gossiping, we’ll pay attention now.’

Clary and Magnus rolled their eyes in complete sink, and both Alec and Jace were smiling innocently at them.

 

**→Six**

Alec didn’t want to go to the Pride Parade. But his boyfriend insisted, and so did Izzy and Clary. Even Jace, who was grinning evily.

So Alec went to Pride. But he put his foot down, refused Izzy’s attempts to pick his clothes, all but ran away from Clary when she tried to put makeup on him.

He accepted a flower crown from Magnus, though. It was pretty, with blue and purple flowers, that matched the warlock’s magic sparks.

Magnus, though… He wore a pair of tight jean shorts, a pair of gold knee-high gladiator styled sandals, and no shirt. A lot of rings a lot of bracelets, and a single… thing around his neck.

It was a gold necklace, but it was also a belt, that was wrapped around his waist, not his jeans. And the two pieces were connected with a thick piece of gold that went down his glitter covered chest. It was shaped as an arrow.

And the tan tattoo was pretty visible too, on Magnus’s collar bone.

Alec felt… slightly embarrassed, and highly aroused. Magnus properly knew this, considering the filthy look he sent his way, and the way he put a hand in Alec’s back pocket as they were walking down the street.

Magnus didn’t take off that particular piece of jewelry when he went to bed that night. It was alright, though, because the gold was cool against Alec’s heated body.

 

**→Seven**

 

Hallloween was a busy night for shadowhunters around the world, because all the demons liked to come out then.

This year, some of them tried to attack the Institute. Magnus was called, even if Alec wasn’t sure why, and he showed up dressed in an intricate costume.

It was leather, some sort of battle gear, black with dark purple highlights, and one of the sleeves was missing, and the other one ended in a particular looking glove. Magnus had a thigh holder and knives in his boots, a large quiver on his back and a bow in his hands.

Maryse and Robert stared at him in disbelief.

Clary started laughing, Jace looked very disturbed, Izzy looked curious and Alec could not look away from where Magnus had his fingers wrapped tightly around the bow.

‘Oh, don’t worry’, Magnus smiled easily, ‘they’re fake arrows and I cannot shoot to save my life.’

‘Dude’, Simon breathed out, clearly in awe. ‘That is the best Hawkeye cosplay I have ever seen.’

Magnus preened at that. ‘Why thank you, I’m quite proud of it myself.’

‘So it’s a … costume?’, Jace asked, still dubious.

Magnus rolled his eyes. ‘It’s so sad, when Nephilim completely ignore mundane pop culture.’

Jace turned to look at Simon, the question clear.

‘Yes, it’s a costume’, the vampire nodded. ‘Hawkeye is a part of the Avengers, which makes him a superhero, even though he’s completely human and doesn’t actually have any superpowers.’

‘Why are you wearing a costume?’, it was Robert that asked, somewhat meekly.

Magnus looked at him, oddly offended. ‘It’s Halloween! I couldn’t open the door to trick-or-treaters without wearing a costume!’

‘Did it had to be Hawkeye, though?’, Clary drawled out, highly sarcastic, sparing a look to Alec.

‘What can I say?’, Magnus grinned. ‘I have a soft spot for archers that save the world.’

Alec blushed furiously, but by the end of the night, he taught Magnus the proper way to hold a bow.

 

**→Eight**

Magnus’s birthday was coming up, and Alec spent a lot of time extracting the information out of Catrina Law, so he wasn’t going to go half way.

Shopping for Magnus was impossible, Alec thought. Clary was by his side (because she wasn’t going to drive him mad like Izzy would, and she wasn’t going to make fun of him like Jace would), and Max was with them as well, because he never actually went to a mall before.

But Alec was out of ideas, nothing seemed good enough of a gift for Magnus.

‘It has to be something shiny’, Max said seriously, having only seen Magnus twice before.

‘He’s right’, Clary said. ‘How about jewelry?’ She shook her head. ‘No, he has enough of it.’

Alec blinked, an idea forming in his head. ‘He never has enough of it, considering he almost never wears anything twice.’

With that, he headed towards the closest jewelry store, Clary and Max hot on his heels.

He felt so awkward in the store, when the store clerk asked him if he’s looking for an engagement ring, and even more awkward, when she said that she’ll help him find something his girlfriend would like, and he had to explain it was for his boyfriend.

Nothing caught his attention, though, not earrings or bracelets, not necklaces or cuffs.

In the end, it was Max that found it.

‘This one’s cool’, he said, ‘but it’s too simple for Magnus.’

He was right. The ring was a simple silver band, thicker than a normal ring, but kinda flat. All along its edges, there were small pieces of stones, that glinted blue and purple in the light, just like Magnus’s magic.

‘It is beautiful’, Clary said.

‘It’s missing something’, Alec said, turning to look at the clerk, asking if they could engrave it. She nodded, but looked weirdly at him when he asked an arrow to be put between each stone.

Alec liked how it turned out, though. So did Clary and Max, and he really thought Magnus would like it as well.

There was a party, of course, but Alec went to Magnus’s apartment before it started, hoping to catch him alone.

‘I’m not proposing’, is what he said when he gave Magnus the velvet box, making the warlock blush (which was a first) and laugh.

His laugh died down when he saw the ring, though, and Alec only now noticed that he wasn’t wearing any.

‘You don’t like it?’, Alec asked, suddenly hesitant.

‘Alexander’, Magnus didn’t look away from the ring. ‘This is… as beautiful as you are.’

It was Alec’s turn to blush, but he smiled when Magnus took the ring out of its box and put it on his right pointer finger. It looked good there, Alec thought.

‘I love it’, Magnus said, and when Alec looked up, he was smiling very softly. ‘I love it a lot.’

‘Good’, Alec said, itching forward. ‘I’m glad, because I love _you_ a lot.’

Yes, it was the first time he actually said it, but Alec has been thinking it for a long while. Magnus didn’t say it back, too shocked to say anything, Alec thought, because the warlock’s mouth was open and his eyes were wide.

He was also blushing, again, and Alec felt oddly proud about that.

‘It’s polite to thank someone when they give you a gift’, Alec pointed out, still smiling.

That made Magnus finally move, grabbing desperately at Alec’s shoulders, kissing him with a sort of rushed intensity that made his knees go weak.

Sometime during the kiss, Magnus pushed his fingers to the side of Alec’s neck, and he felt a shiver run down his spine because of the cool metal against his heated skin.

‘You mean the world to me’, Magnus whispered against his lips.

Alec smiled at that, how could he not? They kept kissing until the guests started arriving and they were forced to pull away. Not too far away, though, Alec spent the night by Magnus’s side.

‘Pretty ring’, Raphael pointed out. He was smirking slightly, his eyes going from Magnus to Alec.

Magnus, ever one for dramatics, put a hand on Raphael’s shoulder and said in a very affected voice:

‘I _desperately_ love arrows.’

Raphael rolled his eyes and walked away, of course, but Alec laughed loudly, long enough that Magnus had to silence him with a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOSH I LOVE ARROWS


	7. Alec/Magnus: The Warlock and the youngest Lightwood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [@wabbitwanderer95](http://wabbitwanderer95.tumblr.com/) asked: _something inspired by[this post](http://buffytheicecreamslayer.tumblr.com/post/146471496017/doctorfeliuzumaki-homovikings-my-uncles): My uncle’s sugar daddy is sitting next to me, showing me pictures of his cat._
> 
> Featuring Max and a kitty!

When Magnus saw that Alec was calling him at 10AM on a Sunday morning, he thought that the shadowhunter was going to cancel the date they had planned later that evening.

When Alec sounded sheepish and started the conversation by apologizing, he was certain their date was going to be canceled.

However, that’s not what happened.

‘Max is here’, Alec said. ‘Because … ugh, long story. The thing is, New York really isn’t safe right now, what with Valentine running around and-‘

‘Alexander’, Magnus interrupted around a smile. ‘If you have to babysit your little brother, it’s alright, I understand. We’ll have our date another time.’

‘Actually’, Alec said still sheepishly, ‘Max wants to go to a comic book store, and I thought I’d take him out for dinner afterwards. Maybe a walk. Would you…’

Magnus waited him out, smiling wildly.

‘Magnus, would you like to join us for dinner?’

Alec was smiling now, and Magnus knew he kept on smiling as they settled on the details.

⃝

Magnus waited for them in front of the diner, but he didn’t have to wait for long.

Alec was smiling, which was a sight in itself. Max was walking at his side, talking animatedly about something, gesticulating widely. Magnus noticed that Alec was carrying several pretty large bags that were probably filled with comic books, more comic books that a boy could need.

Magnus grinned, when he realized that Alec was the type of brother who spoiled his siblings. He had his suspicions when he saw how willing Alec was to do anything for his sister during her trial, but this confirmed it.

Max stopped talking when he saw Magnus, and said something to Alec, covering his mouth, but Alec nodded, still smiling.

As they got to his side, Max straightened up. Magnus could see that he was a bit apprehensive, or maybe shy, but Magnus smiled at him.

‘Hello, you must be Max.’, he extended his hand.

Max shook it strongly, like only a shadowhunter could.

‘Nice to meet you, Mr. Bane.’

‘Oh’, Magnus giggled, ‘there’s no need for that. Please call me Magnus.’

‘Okay’.

‘Shall we go in?’, Alec asked, and Max nodded strongly at that, heading for the door.

It gave Alec the opportunity to kiss Magnus’s cheek, and apologize once again for the change of plans. Magnus waved him off, and followed Max into the diner.

‘What can I have?’, Max asked Alec, sitting next to him and studying the menu intently.

‘Anything you want, buddy’, came Alec’s prompt response.

‘Can I have breakfast food?’, Max asked hopefully, and again, Alec was quick to nod.

So they all ordered pancakes and Alec and Magnus had coffees.

‘So, boys’, Magnus smiled across the table at the Lightwood’s. ‘How was your day?’

‘Good!’, Max grinned. ‘Jace made me breakfast in the morning, and then we spent the day helping Clary fix up the back yard.’

Magnus blinked. ‘The back yard… of the Institute?’

‘Yeah’, Alec said with a typical _I don’t know_ shrug. ‘There’s going to be a swing and a gazebo and uh…’

He turned to Max.

‘And a garden’, he helpfully supplied. ‘Izzy’s going to plant roses.’

‘That sounds lovely’, Magnus nodded.

‘And then Alec took me clothes shopping and to the comic book store’, there was excitement in Max’s voice.

‘And what did you get?’

‘Avengers comics.’

‘Which ones?’, Magnus asked, not even having to fake his interest.

‘All of them’, there was an evil glint in Max’s eyes, so Magnus turned to look at Alec, who was blushing.

He didn’t say anything, he just shrugged again, making the warlock laugh.

‘Is it safe to say’, he asked Max, ‘that your big brother does everything you tell him to?’

‘No’, Max snorted. ‘Not _everything_ , I do get stupid ideas sometimes.’

They all laughed at that.

They talked while they ate, well, Max did most of the talking, but Magnus didn’t mind.

Max was a very promising young man, not tainted yet by the darkness of being a shadowhunter. He was an excited kid, full of energy and jokes, and he had some of Alec’s snark, and some of Izzy’s mischief.

Maryse’s influence was also visible, Max was a very polite child. He said _please_ and _thank you_ , and he ate his pancakes with a fork and knife, and wiped his mouth with a tissue every other bite.

He also loved Alec terribly, and it was fully returned. Magnus loved seeing it, really. It’s been a while since he dealt with siblings, and these two, they were the poster boys for it.

After dinner, Alec suggested they go for a walk through Central Park. Max seemed very excited for that, but it might have been the sugar speaking.

Still, Magnus magicked their bags away to Alec’s room at the Institute, and he held Alec’s hand as they walked through the city. Max didn’t bat an eye at it, walking a few steps in front of them, turning around to ask questions every now and then.

It was clear he didn’t spend a lot of time in New York. He wasn’t used to the mundane world, kept asking questions about this and that, but Alec always answered.

He also told him things like ‘watch out for that bike’ or ‘please don’t pet that dog’, ‘don’t run off, Max’ and ‘wait for us at the crossing’. It was often, and a bit much, Magnus thought.

But it was absolutely adorable, Magnus couldn’t stop smiling. Alec seemed a bit flustered, but the warlock kept on holding his hand, squeezing reassuringly every time his boyfriend blushed.

Once they made it to Central Park, the sun was just setting, casting everything in hues of soft red and purple.

‘This is pretty’, Max said suddenly, coming to walk beside them. ‘Not as pretty as Idris, but it’s pretty.’

‘Do you like it in Idris?’, Magnus asked and Max frowned.

‘It’s a pretty town, and I like learning about stuff.’

‘Oh, do you?’, Magnus was surprised. Most kids didn’t like studying, did they?

‘Yeah. I don’t like the homework, but I have to do it.’

Such a Lightwood, Magnus thought, pointedly raising an eyebrow to Alec, who blushed.

‘And I miss my brothers and Izzy.’, Max admitted.

Alec sighed. ‘We miss you too, buddy. But you understand why you have to stay in Idris.’

‘Cause it’s safe, and New York isn’t because of Valentine Morgenstern.’

It sounded very rehearsed, to Magnus, but that didn’t make it less true.

‘And that’s why you had to babysit me today.’, the child added, no infliction in his voice.

Alec snorted at that. ‘It’s not like I minded it.’

Max frowned, looking between Alec and Magnus for a second. ‘But I ruined your date.’

‘Oh no’, Magnus was quick to say. ‘You certainly did not, I quite enjoyed it.’

That got him another kiss on the cheek from Alec, which made Max giggle. But then he saw a children’s park and ran straight to it, the two adults struggling to keep up.

They sat on a bench as Max had fun by himself in a swing. Alec talked about how everybody had a day off today, but there were missions scheduled during the night and he was set to go out with Izzy and Jace, as usual, but also with Clary.

Magnus saw that Alec was still apprehensive about the redhead, but he was trying his best. Probably for Jace, not for her sake. It was something he admired, and he didn’t hesitate in telling Alec so, making the shadowhunter look at him with a particularly confused expression, even as he was blushing.

‘Okay’, Alec said slowly. ‘If you say so, but I don’t think-‘

He stopped, eyes skipping to something over Magnus’s shoulder and stopping there. Alec’s expression quickly turned into a frightened one.

‘Max, put down that cat!’, he yelled pretty strongly, startling Magnus completely.

He turned around as Alec darted off the bench, and sure enough, Max wasn’t on the swings anymore. Instead, he was sitting in the sand box (probably making a mess of his clothes, Magnus absently thought), with a cat in his hands. The feline was pretty small, still a kitty, light gray with white paws. Max was holding her up above his head, but the kitty didn’t seem too bothered by it.

Still, Alec took the cat away from Max’s hands and put it outside of the sand box. There was a discussion happening, that Magnus couldn’t hear, but he could see that both of the Lightwood’s anger was rising up.

Alec stopped mid word, though, looking down at his feet where the kitty was rubbing against his leg. Max laughed at that, delighted.

‘Kitty, stop’, Alec was saying as Magnus made his way to their side. ‘Kitty, no.’

The kitty didn’t listen. Max sat down and started petting it.

‘Max, no’, Alec said, still to no avail.

Magnus couldn’t help but chuckle, making his presence known. Alec looked at him, somewhat desperately. When Alec saw that he was laughing, he switched to glaring.

‘Are you a cat type of man, Max?’, Magnus asked the young boy, crouching next to him.

‘I don’t know’, Max frowned. ‘But I like this kitty!’

Magnus regarded it with narrowed eyes. It was pretty cute, he had to admit, looking at how it was purring as Max petted it.

‘I like my cat better’, Magnus finally decided. Max looked up at him quickly, with big eyes.

‘You have a cat?’

Magnus nodded.

Max turned to look at Alec, then, and the shaodwhunter nodded as well.

‘The High Warlock of Brooklyn’, Max whispered, ‘has a cat. That’s unbelievable.’

Magnus scoffed. ‘I have pictures!’

Five minutes later, Magnus and Max were both sitting on the filthy asphalt of the park, in the middle of a road, actually. Not that either of them cared. The gray kitty was still sprawled in Max’s lap, happy to be petted and clearly delighted by the attention it was recieving, even if Max’s attention was equally distributed to the kitty in his lap and the pictures Magnus was showcasing on his phone.

Max seemed to like looking at pictures of the Chairman, and listening to the silly stories that came with it.

It wasn’t like they forgot that Alec was there, the only one still standing. Magnus saw, in the corner of his eyes, that Alec was scowling down at them, seemingly annoyed, but the look in his eyes was so very far from that. It was fond and longing and it was clear that Alec was battling with himself.

So he said nothing, as Magnus and Max talked about cats.

Sometime later, Alec left them there, with a gruff ‘I’ll be right back’. Neither Max nor Magnus paid him much attention.

Still, not before long, Alec came back and crouched down next to them, absently putting a hand on Magnus’s leg for support.

‘Come on guys, I have to get back to the Institute.’

Max pouted. ‘I hate missions.’

Alec snorted at that. ‘You and me both, buddy. But I have to.’

‘I know’, Max sighed. He picked up the kitty and gave it a kiss on the top of its head, before standing up and offering a hand to Magnus to help him up.

It was adorable. He accepted it though, because it brought a smile to Alec’s face.

They chatted easily as they made their way to the Institute, Max between the two grown ups, holding onto Alec’s hand.

Alec seemed surprised by this, and Magnus was as well, because Max seemed too grown up for it. But it clearly delighted Alec, and it gave Magnus another reason to smile.

Isabelle was waiting for them on the steps of the Institute and the first thing she did was to give Max a big hug, but she did urge him to shower, because he was covered in sand.

Max left with another strong shake of Magnus’s hand, and another apology for crashing his and Alec’s date. He also proclaimed that Magnus promised him an introduction to the Chairman, which Magnus didn’t remember doing, but didn’t argue against.

When Max was gone, Isabelle turned to Alec.

‘Change of plans, you’ve got the night off.’

‘Excuse me?’, Alec asked, seemingly affronted.

‘Jace and I will be joining another group of shadowhunters for patrol tonight, so you’re not needed. And Clary is spending the night with Simon and Raphael.’

‘Why?’, Alec pulled a face.

‘They want to learn about vampire customs, apparently.’

‘No’, Alec rolled his eyes, ‘I mean why did mom give me a night off?’

Izzy shrugged. ‘It just came to happen, she says. Honestly, I think she’s rewarding you for babysitting Max.’

Alec rolled his eyes again, before accepting it.

‘Now’, she went on, smiling at Magnus, ‘I would suggest you boys go to the bar for a nightcap, but there isn’t actually anyone minding the bar tonight.’

Magnus turned to Alec, mindful of his too hopeful expression. ‘I am an _amazing_ bartender.’

Alec snorted. ‘I know’, he said before narrowing his eyes at his sister.

‘Where’s mom?’

‘In Idris for the night’, Izzy happily supplied.

Only then did Alec smile and looked to Magnus again. ‘Drinks, huh?’

Magnus grinned and followed Alec inside of the Institute.

⃝

After Magnus made them cocktails, they sat down on one of the couches in the empty bar. Alec took off his boots and sat crossed legged, facing Magnus.

‘I’ve been to your apartment a couple of times now’, he said, frowning slightly. ‘How come I haven’t seen your cat? Does he not like shadowhunters?’

Magnus snorted. ‘It’s not that, Alec. It’s just that the Chairman doesn’t like people, in general. He hates me, for example.’

‘But he’s your cat!’

The warlock shrugged. Of course, then he started telling the story of Church. Alec listened to it curiously, thankfully not pointing out all the details Magnus skipped, all the people he didn’t talk about. He just focused on Church.

In the end, Alec nodded understandingly. ‘I like cats’, he finally said, a bit hesitantly. ‘I wouldn’t mind meeting yours.’

It was then when Max came to the bar. He was in his pajamas, but he was smiling.

‘I came to say good night’.

Alec opened his arms at that, and Max easily made his way to his brother’s side, accepting a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

He turned to Magnus then, hesitantly asking if he could hug him too. The shyness was so reminiscent of Alec, Magnus couldn’t do anything else but open his arms.

Max hugged him strongly, petting his hair twice before letting go. Magnus didn’t even mind if the child messed it up.

As Max left, Alec followed him out with such a soft look. Magnus has seen it before, when Alec looked at Isabelle, but it still made… his insides melt, really.

‘I adore seeing the way you love them’, Magnus admitted, making Alec turn to look at him.

He blushed furiously, but he also smiled. Alec took Magnus’s hand, bringing both of them onto his lap.

‘I’m overprotective, apparently’, Alec said. ‘Mom told me …’, he shook his head. ‘I was little when Izzy was born, but she was tiny and I was scared of hurting her. When Max came along, I… I didn’t leave the nursery for a week. Made Izzy stay with me.’

‘You take your big brother role very seriously’, Magnus smiled, squeezing Alec’s fingers.

He nodded, didn’t say anything.

‘How did you react when Izzy started dating?’, Magnus couldn’t help but ask.

Alec glared good naturally, but it was gone quickly, replaced with an eye roll and a smirk.

‘Not that bad’, he admitted, ‘considering by that age Izzy knew 12 different ways to kill a man and had knives in the soles of her shoes.’

Magnus laughed at that, a lot, because shadowhunters were ridiculous. Alec didn’t seem perturbed by it.

‘I’m glad you and Max get along’, he said next, whispering really. ‘And with Izzy. It… it means a lot to me.’

Magnus smiled wildly at that because really, it meant a lot to him as well. But he couldn’t help but tease.

‘What about Jace?’

Alec pulled another face. ‘I like to think that it's a work in progress.’

Magnus laughed loudly at that, giving into the urge to rest his head on Alec’s shoulder.

‘I want to introduce you to Catrina’, he admitted. ‘She’s the closest thing to a sister I ever had. But I think you’ll both ally yourselves against me and I’m not sure I would like it.’

‘Oh, like you and Izzy constantly do to me?’

Alec did have a point there, but Magnus was never going to admit that. So, instead, he tilted his head up and kissed his boyfriend, effectively cutting the conversation.

Magnus left that night only after Alec was struggling to keep his yawns out of their kisses, but he left with a big smile on his face and half-heartedly forming a plan that would allow Max to meet Chairman Meow.

⃝

The next morning, Magnus got a text from Alec. That didn’t happen often. Even more, it had a picture attached, which absolutely never happened.

Opening it, Magnus smiled instantly. The picture was of Max sitting in what was clearly the Institute training room. He was in his pajamas, sitting crossed legged on the ground, with the gray kitty from the park sprawled on his lap.

 _The New York Institute has acquired a feline member_ , the text said, _and is requesting your expertise on the matter, Warlock Bane. … Cause I have to buy litter and toys and stuff_ _?!_

Magnus laughed loudly and quickly made himself a portal.

Max’s cat has been named Graywood (‘Get it, Magnus? Cause we’re Lightwoods!’), it liked to chew on Jace’s fingers (Magnus loved the kitty, deeply), Maryse was appalled and angry, and nobody cared about that fact. Alec said that Max has never looked happier, and Magnus was delighted to join his boyfriend in shopping for the new addition to his family.


	8. Clary&Izzy: Cuddles to cope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aishwarya Kamaraj asked: _can you maybe do jace and clary or clary and izzy brotp?_  
>  post 1x13.

Clary doesn’t remember a lot from the road back to the Institute, but she knows that she was crying, that Simon was holding her hand and that Alec spent the entire trip walking with his arm around her shoulders.

Simon had to leave because the sun was about to come up. Izzy and Alec had to tell their parents (and the Clave) what happened. Magnus already left them, going back to his place to look for a way to track down Jace.

Clary was left in the middle of her bedroom, all alone. She was still crying and her hands were shaking.

Mechanically, she took off her clothes and had a too hot shower. Her skin was red when she came out of the bathroom, and she didn’t hesitate in putting on Jace’s t-shirt, the one she wore her first night in the Institute, the gray one that didn’t smell like him anymore, but that she couldn’t bear to give back.

Clary felt exhausted. She felt angry and frustrated, hurt, there was an ache in her chest that she couldn’t even imagine not being there someday.

She fell onto her bed, tears still falling down her face, mixing with the drops of water falling from her still wet hair.

Clary cried and cried and cried and she couldn’t stop and she couldn’t do anything else but cry. She wanted Simon and she needed Jace, she wanted her mother but couldn’t move to call her, even Alec would have soothed her, but neither of them were there, and they won’t be and Clary cried and cried and cried.

She has no idea how much time passed before there was a knock on her door. She didn’t answer, but someone came in anyway. Clary couldn’t stop crying, so she closed her eyes. She heard the door closing back, and shoeless feet hitting the ground, and then the bed was moving and someone was laying down beside her.

Clary didn’t need to open her eyes to know it was Izzy. She smelled her shampoo, sweet lemon, but she also smelled Jace, and that made Clary open her eyes. Izzy was wearing one of Jace’s hoodies, she had tears in her eyes, no makeup on her face and she was biting her lower lip.

Clary cried harder and she hugged Izzy tightly, as tightly as she hugged back. They were both shaking.

‘He’ll come home’, Izzy whispered. ‘He always comes back to us.’

Clary didn’t find it in herself to say anything to that, so she just held on to the other girl.

After they both calmed down a bit, Clary asked about Maryse and Robert.

‘Mom’s furious’, Izzy whispered, hurt evident. ‘She kept saying that Jace was stupid. She doesn’t understand why he did it.’

‘Do you?’

Izzy sighed. ‘He just found out that the biggest villain of the shadow world is his father. He found out that the girl he was falling in love with is his sister. Wouldn’t you want to run away?’

Clary sniffed. ‘I wouldn’t want to run away from him.’

Izzy smiled at that, shakily. ‘He’s impulsive, always has been. And he thinks… He thinks he deserves to be hurt, Clary. And I’m sure, I’m positive, that this is what hurts him the most. Running away from us.’

‘That _is_ stupid’, Clary whispered, making Izzy chuckle, still shakily.

‘The Clave thinks he’s a traitor.’

Clary gasped at that.

‘Alec yelled at them’, Izzy went on. ‘He… he screamed at the Inquisitor. I’ve never seen him so mad.’

‘Parabatai’, was all Clary said.

‘Yeah’, Izzy breathed out. ‘Alec convinced them for now, but…’

‘I don’t care’, Clary admitted. ‘As long as he comes back, I don’t care.’

‘Right’, Izzy nodded. ‘You’re right. I just hope…’, she took a deep breath. ‘This will change everything.’

Clary rolled her eyes. ‘Magnus told me once that the Lightwoods are the most stubborn family of shadowhunters and that they always get what they want.’

Izzy chuckled at that, shortly. ‘But Jace isn’t a Lightwood.’

‘Yes he is’, Clary said with a surprising amount of strength. ‘He’s still your family, he always will be. He just…. Has to remember that.’

Izzy nodded, and snuggled even closer to Clary.

‘Where’s Alec?’, Clary asked.

‘Punching things. It’s how he copes. I… need cuddles to cope.’

Clary smiled at that, and kissed Izzy’s forhead before closing her eyes.

She fell asleep and she had nightmare after nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from, dreams of Jace falling from Clary’s grasp, of his screams and death.

Clary woke up to someone running fingers through her hair and when she managed to open her eyes, she saw that it was Magnus. He looked as bad as she felt, exhausted and… drained.

‘You kidnapped my boyfriend’, he whispered playfully.

It made no sense to Clary, but when Magnus’s eyes skipped to the other side of the bed, Clary looked as well. Sure enough, Alec was there too, snuggled up to Izzy, his face buried in her hair, both of them still asleep.

Clary looked back to Magnus, intent on saying it was Izzy’s fault, but she couldn’t get the words out.

‘It’s a new day’, Magnus said softly, making Clary shake her head.

‘I don’t want today. I don’t want any day without him.’

Magnus sighed at that. He also kissed her forehead, which made her heart hurt even more.

He moved to Alec afterwards, gently waking him up as well, and waking Izzy up in the process too. She started crying the second her eyes opened, and Clary didn’t hesitate in hugging her, just as tightly as last night.

They stood like that for a while, the girls embraced and crying, Alec with his head pushed into Izzy’s hair and his hand wrapped around Clary’s, Magnus watching everything with a sad look.

‘Come on, my dears’, he finally said. ‘Maryse is expecting you to fight a war and find a solution’, he rolled his eyes and Clary didn’t want to think about how that conversation went.

Magnus kissed Alec’s cheek next. ‘Let's go, darling. The girls need to get dressed.’

Alec nodded and followed Magnus out the door, but not before smiling at them both.

Clary kissed Izzy’s forehead, glad to see that she wasn’t crying as hard anymore.

‘Come on, girlfriend’, she whispered. ‘There’s a war to fight, apparently. And a brother to find.’

They got dressed together, Izzy borrowing Clary’s clothes, for a change. No makeup was put on, no hair was styled more than a messy bun.

No words were said, not until they stepped into Maryse’s office, where Alec and Magnus were already waiting, along with Robert and a couple of other shadowhunters.

‘You know’, Izzy said with a hand on Clary’s shoulder. ‘You’re Jace’s sister, and he’s my brother. So that makes you my sister.’

Clary smiled at that, ignoring the nasty look Maryse was sending her way.

‘That’s not so bad’, she admitted, grabbing a hold of Izzy’s hand.

They just smiled at each other for a while, until Alec groaned.

‘This family is getting too large. Christmas is going to be chaos.’

He didn’t mean it, Clary knew it, because there was fondness in his eyes and a small smirk on his lips. That’s why Clary was able to grin at him.

‘Just for that, you’re not getting my famous triple chocolate mint cupcakes on Christmas morning.’

‘Cupcakes?’, Magnus asked, faking excitement, making his boyfriend glare at him.

‘If I can’t have them, neither can you.’

‘I never agreed to that’, Magnus pouted.

‘It’s okay, Magnus’, Izzy grinned, dragging Clary to the corner they were sitting in. ‘I’ll sneak you some.’

‘Et tu, little sister?’, Alec sighed. ‘Et tu?’

Izzy just grinned, and so did Clary. Magnus joined them soon enough, and Alec rolled his eyes, but it was once again paired with a smirk.

Maryse said something rude and authorative then, making them all return to the world they were stuck in and the war they were fighting, but throughout the meeting, Clary didn’t let go of Izzy’s hand.

And some mornings, after rough nights, Clary woke up with Izzy by her side. Sometimes Alec was there too. She didn’t mind it.


	9. Alec/Magnus, Hawkeye Squared: Mild form of amnesia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [May](http://maysworlds.tumblr.com/) wanted a Hawkeye² and Malec crossover.

Alec just couldn’t catch a break.

He spent the evening hunting demons with Jace and Izzy, they killed about two dozens of them.

It was now about 3 AM, and all Alec wanted was to get to Magnus’s loft and fall asleep with his boyfriend’s hands around him.

But no, that was too much to ask, apparently! He was half a block away from Magnus’s when another hoard of demons attacked him.

There were about six of them, and Alec was struggling. He kept running away, keeping his distance in order to be able to shoot arrows, but he was gravely outnumbered.

The demons cornered him in an alley, and they were closing in. Alec was just about to forgo his bow for a seraph blade when someone landed next to him.

A young woman, with dark hair and a light purple bodysuit, wearing sunglasses despite the fact that it was the middle of the night. She also had a bow, and she didn’t hesitate in starting to shoot arrows at the demons.

When Alec snapped out of it, he noticed that there were arrows coming down from above as well. He looked up and saw another person, a man, sitting on a fire escape, in a black suit.

Alec went back to shooting his arrows.

‘My arrow’s aren’t working!’, the man yelled after a while.

‘Mine neither!’, the woman yelled back. ‘Get down here.’

The man gracefully jumped off the fire escape, landing on Alec’s other side.

They didn’t talk about it, but the strangers both grabbed an arrow from Alec’s quiver. He groaned at them, annoyed, but ultimately, his arrows were the only weapons they had against the demons.

But not quite, and the demons were closing in.

So Alec took off his quiver, giving it to the woman, before pulling out a seraph blade.

‘Please don’t shoot me’, was all he said, before getting closer to the demons, fighting in close quarters with his blade.

The archers didn’t shoot him, thankfully, and together, they managed to destroy all the demons.

Alec was covered in ichor, again!, and his tipping point of exhaustion passed about an hour ago.

‘What the hell were those things?’, the woman asked, looking with wide eyes at Alec.

‘Demons’, he said after a beat. ‘From Hell, yes.’

Her jaw dropped at that, and so did the guy’s.

‘Awh no’, the woman groaned. ‘First aliens and now demons. I can’t handle this shit anymore.’

That made Alec pause, and he took a second to actually look at the two strangers. They were wearing some sort of tactical gear, like nothing Alec’s ever seen before. His was black, with some dark purple accents, and it was pretty camouflagable, yeah, but hers was light purple and pretty fashionable, with cuts on her hips and a generous cleavage.

Their bows looked very professional, Alec knew that they weren’t stuff one could find on the market.

They had the Sight, clearly, because they saw the demons, and it was obvious that they were used to fights, but-

Alec recognized the man, suddenly.

‘You’re Hawkeye’, he breathed out.

‘Yes we are’, the woman said, which didn’t make a lot of sense to Alec.

But it wasn’t like he knew much. He just remembered some grainy footage from the Battle of New York.

‘But seriously, dude’, the girl said, pushing her sunglasses up her head, ‘Demons? We have to deal with demons now, too?’

‘Uh’, Alec blinked. ‘No, no you don’t have to. We’ve got that covered.’

‘Didn’t look like you got it covered, buddy’, Hawkeye snorted, making Alec glare at him.

‘They jumped me, I didn’t get to call for backup.’ He paused. ‘Thank you for your help’, he added, before turning around and heading out of the alley, to Magnus’s place.

The two followed him. Alec glared.

‘We’re going that way too’, the girl smiled innocently. ‘We’re seeing a … friend.’

‘In the middle of the night?’, Alec couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

‘Well where are you going?’, she countered back, defiantly.

Alec shook his head and mumbled a ‘to my boyfriend’s’ under his breath, before he started walking again. The two Hawkeyes fell into step with him, and Alec noticed, in the corner of his eyes, that they were holding hands.

They followed him all the way to Magnus’s apartment building.

‘Oh’, the girl said. ‘This is where our friend lives too.’

Alec narrowed his eyes, highly suspicious. He waved a hand to the intercom. ‘Call them, then.’

The girl nodded and of course, OF COURSE!, she rang Magnus’s buzzer.

‘WHO DARES DISTURB THE HIGH WARLOCK OF BROOKLYN?’

The woman turned around with wide eyes. The guy snorted. Alec sighed.

‘Uh’, the girl said, ‘the Avengers!?!’, it came out as a question.

‘And your boyfriend’, Alec nodded.

‘Oh’, Magnus said, before letting them in.

Alec lead the way up the stairs, the other two following him in silence. Magnus opened the door and his eyes grew wide upon seeing Alec.

‘Are you hurt?’, he asked urgently, and Alec shook his head.

He kissed his boyfriend, briefly, inhaling deeply the scent of home he craved so hard tonight.

‘Exhausted’, Alec said when he pulled away. ‘I’m gonna shower.’

He didn’t wait for a response, didn’t wait to see what the other two were saying to Magnus, Alec just took off his weapons and dragged his feet to the bathroom.

He was quick about his shower, putting on a pair of sweatpants and a jumper before making his way back to the living room.

Magnus was just serving his guests with coffee, and Alec gratefully accepted a cup too.

The two Hawkeyes were sitting on a couch, sides pressed together. Chairman Meow was in the girl’s lap, clearly itching to move to the guy’s hold.

‘Nope’, the guy said, using his bow to keep the cat away. ‘No way I’m touching you, my dog’s gonna kick me out of the house if I come home smelling of cat.’

‘Alec, these are Kate Bishop and Clint Barton.', Magnus said stiffly. 'Avengers, as you know, code name Hawkeye. Hawkeyes, this is Alexander Lightwood.’

‘What are you?’, Kate asked without preamble.

‘Really tired’, Alec didn’t hesitate. Magnus huffed.

‘Sorry, that was rude’, Alec backtracked. ‘I’m a shadowhunter.’

‘And what’s that?’, Clint pulled a face.

Alec sighed, and Magnus took over, thankfully.

‘He has angel blood running through his veins, he and his kind keep the world safe from demons and other various things.’

‘What about you?’, Clint eyed Magnus. ‘What are you?’

Magnus raised an amused eyebrow. ‘I am a warlock, the child of a demon and a human.’

‘So that’s like magic, right?’, Clint frowned.

‘Pretty much’, Alec piped up. ‘That, and immortality.’

Clint turned to look at him.

‘Magnus is 405 years old’, Alec said, and Clint’s jaw dropped.

‘Kate, darling’, Magnus said next, ‘didn’t you tell Clint all of this before coming here?’

The girl flinched. ‘About that. We have a problem.’

‘Obviously’, Magnus drawled. ‘Something that the Avengers can’t fix?’

Kate sighed. ‘I think this is more of your area of expertise, warlock.’

Magnus just raised an eyebrow.

‘Clint has a mild form of … amnesia’, Kate finally said and Alec felt Magnus freeze.

‘He doesn’t remember the Avengers’, Kate went on. ‘Or me, or Shield, or…’

‘No idea’, Clint nodded when she didn’t go on. ‘Katie keeps telling me, but nothing rings a bell.’

‘Nothing?’, Magnus said slowly. ‘Captain America, Black Widow? Nothing?’

‘Absolutely nothing’, Clint nodded.

‘But you remember Kate’, Magnus pointed out, making both of them flinch.

‘Not exactly’, Clint said slowly. ‘I remember caring for her. Don’t remember much else.’

Alec saw Magnus’s eyes skipping from Kate, to Clint, to their clasped hands.

‘Oh’, Magnus said. ‘That explains a lot.’

Alec wanted to ask, but he didn’t.

‘Can you help?’, Kate asked next, not sounding so confident anymore.

Magnus shared a look with Alec. He was asking a question, Alec saw, but it wasn’t like Alec was about tell him ‘no, Magnus, I wanna sleep’. So he nodded, smiling at his boyfriend.

‘Can I do anything to help?’, he asked and Magnus smiled wildly, shaking his head.

‘Entertain our guests while I make the potion.’

He was off into his office in a snap of blue sparks, and Alec was left with the two Hawkeyes, both of them watching him expectantly.

‘I’m horrible with human interaction on a normal day’, Alec said, ‘and I’m exhausted right now. Sorry.’

‘So angels, huh?’, Clint said. ‘That’s amazing.’

Alec blinked, twice. ‘You’ve fought aliens.’

‘I don’t remember that’, Clint shook his head.

‘You have an alien on your team.’

‘Don’t remember that either.’

Kate sighed and Alec saw just a flash of it, but there was pain in her eyes.

‘So you have a dog?’, is the first thing that he thought of saying, and it was okay, because Clint started babbling about Lucky and Kate didn’t look so miserable anymore.

Magnus finished the potion quickly, and he had Clint drink it, promising that his memory will return in the morning, after a good night’s sleep.

Clint thanked Magnus with a joke and a slap on the back, but Kate hugged the warlock, whispering something into his ear that made Magnus close his eyes and return the hug.

After the Hawkeyes were gone, Alec asked.

‘They weren’t together before this, were they?’

Magnus raised his eyebrows. ‘I didn’t think you’d pick up on that.’

‘It was pretty obvious’, Alec scoffed.

His boyfriend shrugged. ‘You have been known to be oblivious.’

Alec rolled his eyes at that, but didn’t comment on it anymore.

‘So’, he grabbed a hold of Magnus’s hand. ‘How do you know the Avengers?’

‘That, my dear, is a long story’, Magnus smiled.

Alec expected nothing else. He fell asleep to Magnus telling him about how the Avengers accidentally fell into a different dimension, and about how the Young Avengers had Magnus bring them back.

→←

Clint came back two days later, and Magnus and Alec weren’t able to get a word out through his ramblings.

‘I remember everything, okay?, everything but what happened when I didn’t remember!’

‘Huh?’, Alec eloquently asked.

‘I don’t remember what happened!’, Clint said, evidently frustrated. ‘I don’t remember meeting you, fighting the demons, coming here and getting the potion. I don’t remember anything that happened while I was an amnesiac!’

‘I’m sorry, Clint’, Magnus said softly, ‘but I don’t think I can help you with that.’

‘Futz it!’, Clint collapsed on the couch, taking a few deep breaths before talking again, a lot more subdued. ‘Something’s wrong.’

‘With what?’, Magnus frowned.

‘With Katie’, Clint sighed, running a hand over his face. ‘She’s acting weird. Detached, and sad. She’s angry at me. And I can’t even remember what I did wrong.’

Magnus shared a look with Alec. Again, he was asking a question. Alec nodded, because he thought Clint needed to know.

‘You didn’t remember her’, Magnus told Clint, ‘but you said you remembered caring for her.’

Clint paled instantly. ‘What did I do?’

Magnus smiled, sympathetically. ‘Trusted her, for one. You had no memory of Kate, but you trusted her instantly. You also assumed that you were… together. And you acted like it.’

‘Oh futz’, Clint whispered shakily. ‘No wonder she’s angry.’

There was something off. ‘Why do you think she’s angry?’, Alec asked.

‘Because we’re not like that!’, Clint all but screeched. ‘We’ve never been like that and-‘

‘Really?’, Magnus interrupted, raising a condescending eyebrow. ‘Have you really never been like that? Because I remember how devastated Kate was when you went missing. How desperate she was. And I remember how she cried when you were finally there to hold her. You remember that too.’

Magnus shrugged. ‘And I’m sure you remember a lot more than that.’

Clint looked down at that, and he stared at his hands, not saying anything for a long while.

Magnus sighed.

‘I don’t think Kate’s angry because of what you did’, Alec said. ‘I think she’s angry about what you _didn’t_ do. When you, you know, remembered.’

‘I can’t help but agree with you, my dear’, Magnus smiled at him, before turning back to look at Clint. ‘She wants you as much as you want her.’

Clint burned bright red.

‘She probably cares about you just as much you care for her’, Alec felt the need to add and it was the right thing, because Clint smiled at him.

→←

Three days later, there was an alien attack on New York. Again.

The entire New York Institute was in the command center, piled around a large screen, watching the live footage. They didn’t usually intervene in these things, but they would, if they saw the Avengers having trouble.

They didn’t, they saved the day.

And when that became clear, the Avengers started celebrating. Laughing and hugging each other. And one of the cameras zoomed in on the two Hawkeyes, kissing passionately, right there, in the middle of the street.

They were both bruised and bleeding and it was clear that they couldn’t care less. About their injuries, about the mess they were in, about the cameras surrounding them or about the rest of the Avengers, who started laughing and clapping.

‘Thank the Angel!’, Alec couldn’t help but breathe out. ‘Woohoo!’, he added, fistbumping the air and everything.

Everybody stared at him. And they kept staring at him as his phone started ringing. It was Magnus.

‘Did you see?’, his boyfriend asked excitedly. ‘They’re kissing, by the Angel, they’re kissing!’

He was yelling in Alec’s ear and he couldn’t help but laugh.

‘And it’s all because of you, Magnus.’

‘Yes, yes it is!’, Magnus answered without any hint of modestly.

He started yelling again, very excitedly, so loud that everybody in the room heard him.

‘What the hell is happening?’, Jace asked, frowning profoundly.

Alec shrugged. ‘Love, I guess.’

He looked to the TV again, where the Hawkeyes were still kissing, now laying on the grownd.

‘No’, Alec whined. ‘They’re squishing their arrows.’

Magnus laughed loudly at that.


	10. Clary/Jace, Alec/Magnus: The Redhead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @shadowhunters wanted some Clary/Jace, so have a coffee shop AU.

Jace thought he could call her a regular by now. She was relatively new to Lightwood Coffee, sure, but it’s been three weeks since she first came in, and she’s been here every other day since.

Always drinking a simple latte with four sugars in it, sitting at one of the tables near the windows, sometimes sketching in a notepad, sometimes on a tablet hooked up to a bright pink laptop.

She was absolutely beautiful, which was the main reason she caught Jace’s attention. She had green eyes, bright red hair and a beautiful smile.

Not that Jace would ever be caught saying that out loud, but he couldn’t help but notice. Notice her.

He didn’t even know her name, because every time she came into the coffee shop, it was at odd hours so she was the only one in line. Jace had no reason to ask for her name, so he didn’t.

He just settled for watching her from afar, smiling politely at her as he got her order, smiling stupidly at her when she wasn’t looking, annoying Alec with his behavior.

Good times.

Δ○Δ

The Redhead (as Alec started calling her) usually came in alone.

There was one exception, when she came in with a geeky looking guy that Jace was instantly jealous of, but he listened in and heard him talking about breaking up with his girlfriend, so he calmed down soon enough.

And today, she came in with another man. He was…. One hell of a man, Jace stared. He had tight leather pants and a suit jacket with sequins on the collar, there were bright pink highlights in his hair and a lot of jewelry all over his body.

As Jace watched The Redhead guide the guy to her usual table, he also noticed that Alec wasn’t by his side anymore, where he was a second ago. Looking around, he was surprised to see that Alec was now on the floor, back against the counter, breathing very heavily.

‘What’s wrong?’, Jace asked, utterly confused, because his brother hasn’t had a panic attack since he was 12.

‘That’s him’, Alec whispered, looking utterly terrified.

‘Him who?’, Jace asked slowly.

‘The-the guy! The… The guy! My guy!’

Jace looked back at the guy. He was talking animatedly with his hands, sitting at the table, as The Redhead was towering over him, looking fondly annoyed.

He looked back to Alec.

‘The guy you had a one night stand with last week?’, Jace whispered slowly. ‘That you ran away from in the morning without even asking for a name? Or phone number? The one you’ve been pinning for a week?’

Alec groaned, nodded, and crawled into the back room. Jace just stared after his brother, completely in awe. He didn’t know if he should laugh at Alec’s inexistent social skills, or if he should feel sorry for the poor bastard.

‘Hello?’, a sweet voice interrupted his musings, and when Jace looked up, The Redhead was looking expectedly at him.

‘Sorry about that’, he shook his head. ‘Extra large latte, right?’

She nodded, smiling. ‘And my friend will have a caramel chocolate cappuccino, extra foam.’

Jace went around to getting their orders done, writing a simple _his_ and _hers_ on the cups, but after she took their coffees, he told her to wait.

She raised an eyebrow, but did as asked, watching him as he wrote down Alec’s number on her receipt.

‘Give that to your friend, will you?’

The Redhead took the paper, but she frowned profoundly.

‘You want me to give Magnus your phone number?’

‘No’, Jace smirked, laughing internally at the guy’s ridiculous name, ‘I want you to give him _Alec_ ’s phone number.’

‘Who’s Alec?’, she frowned even more.

‘My brother’, Jace nodded. ‘He works here too, you’ve seen him before. He’s also the guy who had sex with Magnus last week and ran away afterwards like an idiot.’

Her jaw dropped. ‘Alec…’, she said slowly. ‘Alec, the awkward barista with the neck tattoo… Alec is the guy Magnus won’t shut up about?’

That made Jace grin, happy that Magnus was just as much of a hopeless idiot at Alec.

‘Okay’, The Redhead said slowly, before smirking a bit. ‘I’ll… give this to Magnus. Thank you.’

Jace shrugged. ‘Just helping my bro out.’

That made her snort, and Jace watched her leave. And when she reached her table, he watched her say something to Magnus, then he watched the other laugh delightedly and scramble for his phone.

Sure enough, a couple of seconds later, there was a ping coming from under the counter, where Alec left his phone.

‘Alec!’, Jace yelled, ‘You got a text!’

There was a muffled ‘no’ from the back room.

‘Yes!’, Jace called back. ‘Now get your ass out here!’

There was more grumbling, but Alec did come out. He was carrying a tray of muffins and he kept his back to the coffee shop. Jace glared.

‘You’re ridiculous.’

Of course, Alec didn’t answer. Instead, he checked his phone.

He blushed instantly, mouth opening and closing a couple of times. He then whined, threw his phone to Jace, and once again, fell to the ground, hiding behind the counter.

This time, Jace looked to The Redhead. She had a hand covering her mouth, obviously trying not to laugh. She pointed at Magnus, and Jace followed it. The other man was pouting dramatically, staring down at his phone like it betrayed him.

Jace sighed and poked Alec with his sneaker. Then, in a voice louder than necessary, he said:

‘Gee, Alec, you look awful. Too bad you got a cold.’

Alec looked up at him and whispered a highly distressed ‘What the hell are you doing?’

Jace started making him a cup of coffee. ‘You should take the day off, I’m sure mom and dad won’t mind. I’ll handle things until Izzy and Lydia get here for their shift, why don’t you… oh I don’t know, drink your coffee in the park or something?’

He threw Alec a look. ‘Who knows who you’ll meet on the way there?’, he deadpanned.

The Redhead was laughing loudly by this point, and Magnus looked as excited as Alec looked terrified.

Jace sighed. He also roughly grabbed his brother off the ground, took off his apron, gave him his phone and his wallet, gave him the coffee cup and all but pushed Alec into Magnus’s direction.

Alec made his way on shaky legs to Magnus’s table and said something Jace couldn’t hear, but it made the other man nod quickly and it made The Redhead smile softly. The two men were out the door quickly enough, and Jace watched them go until he saw Magnus taking Alec’s hand, and saw Alec smiling shyly at him, without taking his hand back.

‘That was a nice thing that you did’, The Redhead’s voice came back, and when Jace looked, she was standing by the counter, her coffee in her hand and a soft smile on her face.

‘He’s my brother’, Jace grinned. ‘He’s an idiot, but he’s my brother.’

She chuckled at that, before her expression fell, a bit.

‘I just hope it makes Magnus stop talking about Pretty Blue Eyed Boy. It was getting on my nerves.’

Jace nodded, understandingly.

She was lingering, he realized. She kept taking sips of her coffee and stealing glances at him, her fingers absently running against the strap of her backpack.

Jace gulped, feeling excitement in his veins.

‘I get off in two hours’, he said, making her head snap up. ‘Do you wanna … go somewhere and talk about how annoying Alec and Magnus have been this past week?’

She blushed furiously, her cheeks matching her hair, but she nodded and smiled.

She also extended her hand. ‘I’m Clary.’

‘Jace’, he shook it, not even minding the graphite marks that she left on his fingers. ‘It’s really nice to finally know your name, we kept calling you The Redhead.’

She laughed at that, completely delighted.

‘Well, HBB, I’ll pick you up in two hours.’

She moved to leave, but Jace called her name. ‘What’s HBB?’

Clary smirked at him over her shoulder, not stopping her trek to the door. ‘Hot Blonde Barista.’

It made Jace grin.

Δ○Δ

A week later, Izzy sat both Jace and Alec down.

‘Guys, this is an intervention. I love you both to death, but if you keep talking about nothing else except Magnus and respectively, Clary, I will shoot you myself.’


	11. Simon/Raphael: Time management

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [@ahdrling](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ahdrling/pseuds/ahdrling) wanted some Saphael, so I used [@bleep0bleep's fic prompt generator](http://bleep0bleep.tumblr.com/prompts) and I got:  
>  Setting: Fairy tale. Genre: Relationship Development. Trope:   
> Fake/Pretend Relationship. Prompt: Confessions (revelation of love/desire; of other secrets; truth or dare games, revealing truths when feverish)

Simon didn’t want to fall into Faerieland. And he most definitely didn’t want to drag Raphael down with him. But this was his life, and that is exactly what happened.

>><< 

They were going through Central Park, a shortcut that cut through to Luke’s Chinese restaurant. Raphael requested a meeting with the Alpha, and of course they both wanted Simon to be there (Raphael didn’t really _say_ so, but he let him come, so that counted for something, Simon thought. Anyway.)

It wasn’t that they were running, that Simon was too overwhelmed to pay attention. No, it was just that it all happened _so fast._

One moment Simon was walking calmly, telling Raphael the story of Luke and the night he made Simon and Clary stay in jail, and the next thing he knew, Simon was on a cold, mushy ground, with Raphael sprawled on top of him, and with a rapidly closing hole over their heads.

It took longer for Raphael to get off Simon that it took for the seelies to find them.

Simon wasn’t used to seelies. And he knew enough to know that he didn’t know enough, that there were customs that had to be respected, that there were rules and that the seelies were an odd bunch, that couldn’t lie but could easily cheat and trick.

So Simon decided he was going to keep his mouth shut (he’ll try his best, at least, it wasn’t going to be easy) and he’ll let Raphael do all the talking, as a clan leader should.

The older vampire introduced himself with a confident posture and bored look, and he demanded to be taken to the Queen for a chance to explain himself for the intrusion.

Meliorn, (because of course he was the one to find them), he barely looked at Raphael, taking his good time at staring Simon down. Simon tried his best not to back down.

When they reached the weird throne room, when his eyes fell on the Queen, Simon couldn’t care less about Meliorn.

Because the Seelie Queen was the most beautiful being Simon was ever seen, and she made him feel… inadequate. Small, insignificant.

And scared. Her beautiful blue eyes were cold and emotionless, and while her hair reminded him of Clary’s, Simon didn’t like it. He didn’t like the beautiful braids it was set in, he didn’t like the flowers in it, the way it fell over her bare shoulders.

Because, on top of everything, the Queen was naked.

Nobody batted an eye, so Simon figured it was a pretty normal occurrence and he wiled himself not to look away from her face.

It wasn’t hardship. For the first time in his life, when presented with a naked body, Simon didn’t want to see it. It scared him too much. She scared him too much.

Raphael grabbed his hand just as the Queen turned her head towards them. Simon didn’t understand why he did that, but he trusted Raphael, he trusted him more than he trusted himself at this point, so the only reaction he had was to turn his hand around to better accommodate the other vampire.

‘Raphael’, the Queen purred, and the tone of her voice should have sent a pleasing shiver down to Simon’s crotch, but instead it only sent a cold shiver down his spine.

‘My Queen’, Raphael bowed respectfully.

‘It’s been years since I laid eyes upon your beauty’, she didn’t get up from her throne as she spoke. ‘What brings you here, my dear?’

‘An accident, My Lady.’

She pouted at that, but Raphael went on explaining how they fell through a portal in Central Park.

‘Such a shame’, the Queen sighed. ‘I was hoping for something more exciting coming from you.’

‘I’m sorry to disappoint’, Raphael smiled. ‘Maybe next time.’

She giggled at that, and it made Simon squeeze Raphael’s fingers tighter. The other vampire didn’t bat an eye at it, but the Queen raised an eyebrow.

‘Don’t be rude, Raphael. Introduce us.’

‘This is Simon, My Lady. Still a fledgling in my clan, but I am taken with him.’

Simon didn’t really understand what that meant, but when Raphael brought their still clasped hands to his mouth and planted a soft kiss on Simon’s knuckles, he thought he had an idea.

He wanted to scream, really. Instead, he bit on his lower lip and tried his best to look bashful, not confused and mortified.

‘Interesting’, the Queen said. ‘What’s so special about him that made you change your heart after decades of loneliness?’

Raphael looked at Simon for a long time. If he were still human, Simon would have blushed furiously under his scrutiny.

‘With all due respect, my Queen’, Raphael turned to her, ‘that’s for me to know and for him to figure out.’

She laughed at that, delighted.

‘I am sorry’, she said finally, still chuckling. ‘But you won’t be able to return to your world.’

Raphael’s face fell.

‘Not immediately’, she added. ‘It will take a couple of hours till another portal will be available to your disposal.’

‘Mortal hours?’, Raphael asked, and the Queen frowned at that, turning to Meliorn.

‘Two days’, the other seelie said. ‘Two days in the mortal world.’

‘That’s most gracious of you, My Lady.’, Raphael sounded anything but pleased.

‘The least I can do for a… friend’, she tilted her head in what can only be described as a regal manner.

‘But until then, we shall enjoy ourselves’, the Queen grinned, getting up from her chair. She left without another word, letting Meliorn alone with Raphael and Simon.

The seelie sighed. ‘Do you wish to celebrate with us or do you wish to be accommodated?’

Raphael was quick to respond. ‘Celebrate, of course. We mustn’t disappoint the Queen after the mercy she has shown us.’

‘Indeed’, Meliorn said. He then made a vague _follow me_ movement, and Raphael was pulling Simon after him, down a narrow hallway filled with dark green vines.

>><< 

Simon kept silent until they reached something resembling a banquet hall, until Raphael pushed him behind an intricate tree structure wall where they were in relative privacy.

‘What the hell?’, was all Simon asked, staring at their still interlocked hands.

Raphael looked pained.

‘It was all I could do to keep you alive.’

‘Why would she have killed me?’, Simon frowned.

‘Why not?’, Raphael countered.

Simon huffed. ‘And this’, he shook their hands, ‘will save me?!’

Raphael nodded. ‘This, yes. And Simon, you have to stay away from the food’, he said insistently, borderline desperate. ‘Don’t eat or drink anything, not blood, not water, not a sip of coffee, a leaf or a vine. Nothing, do you understand?’

Shocked by the other vampire’s desperation, Simon nodded, slowly.

‘I can survive two days without blood’.

Raphael sighed. ‘It’ll be worse on the second one, but I’ll be here to help you.’

Then, he looked Simon in the eyes and squeezed his fingers tightly, almost painfully.

‘As I’ve been from the beginning.’, Raphael all but whispered. ‘As I’ll be to the end. Understood?’

Simon did. They were supposed to be together _forever_. He could fake it, probably. He… will probably fake it a bit too well, considering how many of his dreams were haunted by Raphael in situations Simon has never seen him, on his knees, against a wall, in the middle of a bed, cornered in a bath.

Simon nodded, pointedly licking his lips. Raphael saw, but he ignored it, turning around and leading them both to the party.

>><< 

Seelies knew how to party.

Really, Simon was mesmerized, unbashfully staring at the proceedings happening in front of him.

Not only was everyone gorgeous, but they were so… perfect. The women moved with grace, glided around the room in a mess of flowy gowns and pale skin. The men were stoic in nature, heads held high and perfect posture, but even they moved in sync with the music in ways that made Simon’s knees go weak just with a glance at them.

Simon was completely mesmerized, by the flowers in the women’s hair, by the gold jewelry on their neck and on the men’s wrist, by the pointy years that looked like they were carved in marble, the colorful gowns and the sparkles of shiny dust that seemed to cover everything.

And the music, oh how wonderful the music was. Simon, who has lived his entire mortal life studying and playing music, he didn’t understand how these sounds were made by the seelie band playing in a corner. He didn’t understand it, but he loved it.

He wanted it. He wanted to take the band and lock them into a room at the Dumort, wanted to listen to it forever. He wanted to wake up to it, fall asleep to it. Train to it, have sex to it –

Honestly, Simon was getting pretty horny.

These fairies were all the epitome of sex on legs and Raphael keeping close to him didn’t help.

The other vampire was glued to Simon’s side. With a hand on his back, or with their fingers interlocked, Raphael didn’t leave his side.

On a basic level, Simon understood that Raphael was just keeping him safe. But that was hard to remember, when even though they were both cold corpses, Simon’s skin burned everywhere Raphael touched it, and when every time someone came to talk to Raphael, he’d press their sides close together, wrap an arm around Simon possessively.

And he’d glare at everyone who even looked at Simon.

Raphael was playing a part, and he was playing it well. Too well, for Simon’s liking, because he might just start believing it true.

He tried to distract himself with other things.

>><< 

‘So seelies don’t age?’

Raphael nodded absently. ‘Time flows differently in the seelie realm.’

Simon huffed. ‘That tells me nothing.’

The other vampire raised an eyebrow at him. ‘How long have we been here?’

Simon opened his mouth to answer, but then he shut it with a click. He had no idea. It felt like minutes, but he knew it was more than that.

‘Exactly’, Raphael replied smugly.

‘But… How will we know when it’s time to go home, then?’, Simon questioned. ‘We have no way of knowing when the two days pass. They could leave us here for centuries and we wouldn’t know.’

Raphael’s smug expression softened, and he squeezed Simon’s fingers in what was probably meant to be reassurance.

‘We’ll get hungry’, Raphael said. ‘Our bodies are still functioning normally, as they should, so they will let us know if we’ll be here for too long. Plus, the Queen is fair.’

Simon raised an eyebrow at that, because he was pretty sure it was a big fat lie. Raphael smirked like he knew what Simon was thinking.

‘She doesn’t benefit from keeping us here. Quite the contrary, with the war against Valentine in swing’, Raphael tilted his head, ‘she needs allies.’

Simon wanted to believe him, and he did, to some extent. But the fact remained that neither of the seelies he has laid eyes upon have inspired him trust. There was something in their eyes, a spark of something mischievous and evil. For a race that couldn’t lie, they really seemed suspiciously unbothered by the fact.

‘Hey’, Raphael said oddly soft, leaning forward until their faces were very close. ‘We _are_ going to get out of here. I won’t allow anything else.’

‘I know’, Simon said quickly. ‘I know you won’t.’

‘Good’, Raphael tilted his head, brushing his nose against Simon’s cheek, before pulling away.

>><< 

He was starting to get hungry, so Simon started talking, in hopes of distracting himself.

‘I don’t get it’, he sighed. ‘Why does he keep glaring at me?’

Raphael turned to look to where Meliorn was, in fact, glaring at Simon. But then he turned, amused, to Simon.

‘Oh’, he said. ‘You really can’t figure it out?’

Simon huffed, very annoyed.

‘You do know he has been seeing that Lightwood girl, right?’, Raphael’s tone was very condescending.

‘And what does that have to do with me?’

Raphael looked at him like he was a very special type of idiot.

‘Maybe’, he drawled out, ‘she told him about you?’

‘What about me?’

‘About you and her?’

Simon didn’t get it.

‘You can’t possibly be this stupid’, Raphael sighed. ‘Think about it, she tells Meliorn about your _love’,_ he snarled the world. ‘And then you and I come here like this’, he squeezed Simon’s thigh. ‘He has grounds to hate you.’

Finally, Simon understood what Raphael was talking about, and he groaned and how far away from the truth Meliorn’s assumptions were.

‘I don’t… ‘, he shook his head. ‘I love Isabelle, sure. In the same way I love you.’

Raphael froze at that, and it made Simon talk faster.

‘Both of you have saved my life a number of times, I will always be grateful and I will always want to protect you, which is something very close to love. But beyond that, I’m not in love with Izzy.’

There was a lengthy pause, that Raphael spent staring at Simon. He didn’t back down.

‘What about the annoying redhead?’, he finally said.

Simon rolled his eyes. ‘I loved Clary before I loved anyone else. Well, except family. That’s not going to change no matter how many years pass. The type of love has changed, sure, I mean…’, he laughed a bit. ‘Have you _seen_ her and Jace together? I don’t think there’s anything that can get between them.’

Raphael seemed to consider this, but in the end he nodded.

They were sitting in a corner of the ball room, far away from the band so they could easily speak without yelling and they were sitting on a log covered in moss that was surprisingly warm.

Their sides were pressed together. One of Raphael’s hands was resting on the log right behind Simon.

There was fairy dust in his hair, glinting green and blue when the lights hit him. He was paler, because he hasn’t fed, but under these magical lights, he looked even more beautiful than he usually did.

And he was looking at Simon, eyes boring into his, clearly searching for something.

‘What’, Simon found himself saying, ‘Why did she say you’ve had decades of loneliness?’

Raphael raised an unamused eyebrow.

‘You don’t have to answer that’, Simon quickly backtracked. ‘Sorry, it’s none of my business.’

Raphael hummed, and looked away.

‘Romantic love has never interested me.’, he started by saying. ‘There was always something more important for me to do. Learning control, at first. Not killing Bane. Finding a place in the clan. I became Camille’s second in command in a very short period of time. And after that, Camille left and I had a clan to run.’

Raphael pulled a face, scrunching up his nose. ‘Love takes time that I don’t have.’

‘That’s not true’, Simon bit his lip. ‘Love can happen in a split second.’

Raphael smiled, a bit. ‘Well it hasn’t happened to me.’

Simon let that sink in. ‘Decades’, he finally breathed out. ‘Decades alone.’

‘Not alone, no’, Raphael shook his head. ‘Being part of a clan means that you’re never alone, fledging. And… as much as it pains me to say it, Magnus has always been there, whether I wanted him or not. Ragnor is sometimes the only rational person I can talk to. And Lily, she… She wants something I cannot give her, but that has never stopped her from being my friend.’

On one hand, Simon was in awe of the fact that Raphael was actually opening up, telling him personal things. On the other hand…

‘That does sound lonely’, he said.

Raphael smirked, before lazily throwing one of his legs over Simon’s knees.

‘Well now I do have this fledgling that I’m taken to.’

Simon rolled his eyes. He also, in a spark of insanity, probably, leaned close into Raphael’s space, close enough that their chests were touching and he could count the other vampire’s eyelashes.

‘Do you even swing this way?’, Simon asked, whispered but clearly playful.

Raphael huffed, clearly annoyed. ‘I swing any way I wish to, idiota.’

Simon couldn’t help but laugh, because the insult was a term of endearment by this point. Raphael didn't move his leg away.

>><< 

It had gotten to the point where talking couldn’t take Simon’s mind off the hunger he felt. Raphael was doing better than him, of course, but he admitted he was hungry as well.

Later, he’d blame the hunger, but he asked Raphael to dance.

‘Right’, the vampire nodded. ‘It would eliminate suspicion.’

Simon got over his shock as he followed Raphael to the middle of the ballroom, where there were a lot of seelies dancing. Raphael easily found a place for them, and Simon, well. He wasn’t that much of a dancer, but he thought he could treat this music like the usual clubbing shit Magnus played in Pandamonium.

He was wrong.

‘Mundane, no’, Raphael sighed. It’s been a long while since he used that term for Simon.

Raphael huffed disapprovingly as he stepped closer to Simon, until their chests were touching. He started swinging slowly in the beat of the music, and Simon followed, of course he did.

Feeling awkward and inadequate, he slowly placed his hands on Raphael’s hips, under his suit jacket, for convenience, of course. He expected Raphael to show him the errors in his ways, again, but the other vampire just hummed, wrapping a hand around Simon’s upper arm and placing the other at the base of his neck.

Simon still felt awkward, but… not as much.

>><< 

Fast forward a couple of minutes or it could have been hours, he was half hard rutting shamelessly against Raphael, who was in a similar condition. Simon’s hands were under Raphael’s shirt, scratching lightly at the skin, making him shudder every time, and Raphael’s lips were pressed tightly against Simon’s neck, tongue or teeth scraping every now and then.

They haven’t kissed. They haven’t said a word.

Simon didn’t breathe anymore, but he felt the need to take a deep, deep breath, clutching tightly at Raphael.

It made the other vampire stop his assault against Simon’s neck and pull away. They locked eyes, but not for long, because Simon was drawn to Raphael’s lips.

‘I’m hungry’, he said, making Raphael nod.

‘For what?’

Before Simon could even process that he had to answer that, Meliorn just appeared next to them, glaring, of course.

‘A portal is now available for you.’

He didn’t wait for an answer, turning around and walking away, forcing Raphael and Simon to detach themselves  and follow him out of the ballroom.

‘We should thank the Queen for her hospitality’, Raphael said once the music wasn’t heard anymore.

‘I’ll send her your regards’, Meliorn deadpanned. ‘She’s … otherwise occupied at the moment.’

Nothing else was said.

Not as they got to the portal, as they stepped through it, as they ran back to the Dumort, as they went straight to the kitchen to feed. As Raphael didn’t even spare a look at Simon before going to sleep.

>><< 

Simon couldn’t get it out of his head.

The way Raphael moved under his hands, the feeling of his lips against Simon’s skin, how easy it was, how…

He went to the Institute looking for Clary. Instead, he found Izzy, which was even better.

‘Do seelies have sex magic?’

Izzy’s jaw dropped and she stared at him.

‘No, seriously’, Simon tried. ‘Is it normal to get like... really horny when you’re around them?’

‘Yes’, Izzy shook herself out of it. ‘I mean, to a certain level. Seelies are appealing in their beauty, to everyone and-‘

‘No, but, I mean’, Simon groaned. ‘You’re in a room surrounded by seelies and the Queen herself and everybody is so incredibly hot and you cannot fucking look away from the vampire who’s pretend dating you to save your life. Is that magic?’

‘What-’, Izzy tries. ‘Simon, what the hell happened?’

‘I just told you’, he pouted. ‘Now I need you to tell me if it was some sort of Faeryland magic I didn’t understand or it was just… us.’

‘So it wasn’t just you?’, Izzy looks even more shocked.

‘Please, I am begging you’, Simon sighed. ‘Can you answer the question?’

‘Simon’, she placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look at her. ‘There’s no such thing as sex magic, not… not how you described it.’

He thought as much, really, he just hoped for a different answer.

‘Great’, he groaned, rubbing at his eyes. ‘Oh, Raphael is going to kill me.’

Izzy snorted. ‘Doesn’t really look like that, does it? I mean, considering you just said it wasn’t just you.’

That didn’t make Simon feel better, because he knew that Raphael was going to keep ignoring it, and Simon really, but _really_ didn’t want that.

>><< 

‘I think we should talk’, Simon said, trying his best to keep his voice even.

Raphael didn’t even look at him. ‘What about?’

Simon huffed. ‘About the fact that we almost fucked in Faeryland.’

That made him freeze and slowly, very slowly, Raphael looked up.

‘Things are … unnatural in Faeryland.’

That made Simon blanch. ‘There’s nothing unnatural with a guy liking another guy.’

‘No’, Raphael shook his head. ‘I didn’t mean that. I meant that we were acting. And-‘

‘Were we?’, Simon interrupted, pretty strongly. ‘Cause I wasn’t.’

That had Raphael close his mouth with a snap.

‘You don’t mean that.’, he finally said, way softer than before.

‘I do mean it’, Simon countered. ‘If I would have said it before, I would have meant it then. And if I would have said it in Faeryland, I would have meant it there. And I mean it now.’

Raphael looked away, his jaw working in what Simon has learned was a sign of anger.

‘Look-‘, he tried, but Raphael quickly interrupted him.

‘This can’t happen.’

‘Why not?’

‘I have a clan to lead, fledging. I have no time for… this.’

Simon sighed. ‘You do realize that I have been helping you lead lead clan from the moment I came back, right?’

Raphael didn’t say anything to that, didn’t do anything except close his eyes, so Simon pushed on.

‘And that you’re spending more time with me than with anybody else in your clan, including Lily? That you stopped really calling me _idiota_ months ago, you use it as a term of endearment now?’

Simon took a deep breath before going on. ‘That you’ve saved my life more times than I can count, that you help my friends when I ask you to, that you’ve told me personal things about yourself that I know for a fact you haven’t told anyone since Magnus?’

‘Raphael’, he breathed out. ‘In Faeryland, you wanted it just as much as I did. The only question is… what exactly did you want? A one off, or… for me to teach you better time management?’

The joke was a horrible one, but it got Simon’s point across. It didn’t do a lot for eliminating the tension in the air, but at least he tried.

Raphael swallowed hard before looking to Simon. He seemed… almost afraid, and it broke Simon’s heart, a bit.

‘I have _never_ felt like this, Simon.’, Raphael admitted. ‘I don’t know what to do with it.’

‘Let me try to help you with it’, Simon breathed out, taking a hesitant step forward. And another, and then another.

Raphael didn’t get up from the chair he was sitting on, but he didn’t stop Simon when he crouched in front of him. And when Simon placed his hand on Raphael’s jawline and pulled him close, Raphael went with it.

It was a soft kiss, that kinda shocked Simon because Raphael has always been this strong wall of rock. The gentleness he displayed when he ran his fingers through Simon’s hair was surprising, but not unwelcomed.

Simon didn’t let it last too long, knowing Raphael will need time to figure this out on his own before he’ll really let Simon in.

‘You talk too much’, Raphael said, grumbled, really, but there was a warmth in his eyes, that made Simon positively giddy.

He grinned. ‘You’ll find a way to shut me up, I’m sure.’

Raphael bit his lip in retaliation, and yeah, that did shut Simon up. Momentarily.


	12. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set a little bit after 1x13. Valentine kidnaps the Downworlders and Alec leads the rescue mission.  
> (the point of view changes with ever split, just go with it)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm still alive. Heh. Sorry?!
> 
> While I was away, the Shadowhunters summer gift exchange happened. So if you're interested in a fluffy Malec fic set in Rome, [check it out here!](http://shsummertimefest.tumblr.com/post/149231686138/enjoy-hushtaire)

Alec had no idea how he managed to sleep, but he suspects Magnus had something to do with it, because the last thing he remembered was sitting on his bed with Izzy in his arms, holding her as she cried. Magnus was on Alec’s other side, silent and somehow strong, one of his hands on Alec’s shoulder, providing wordless support.

Magnus must have put a spell on them, because there was no way Alec and Izzy were going to sleep. But they did. They slept, and when they woke up, Magnus wasn’t there anymore.

And neither was Jace.

Izzy started crying again, but this time, Alec didn’t comfort her. Instead, he squared his shoulders and told her that they had work to do. They had to do everything they could to find Jace, to set him free from Valentine’s hold. And, realistically speaking, they had to keep Clary sane. It was that realization that made Izzy take a deep breath and compose herself.

They went on with their morning routine, and even though Alec took an uncommonly long shower, he still got to the kitchen before Izzy.

Clary was already there, and neither of them said anything as Alec made himself a quick sandwich and a cup of coffee. She looked awful, Alec noticed. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was piled up messily on top of her head and she was wearing leggings and one of Jace’s hoodies.

‘I’m sorry’, she said once Alec sat down next to her at the table.

‘What for?’, he frowned.

‘Everything.’

She sniffed twice, clearly about to start crying.

Awkwardly, Alec grabbed a hold of her hand. Clary startled, badly, looking at him with wide eyes. At least she was only half way to crying, now.

‘We’ll get him back’, Alec said with as much confidence as he could. ‘Jace is strong. He’s an idiot’, he rolled his eyes, ‘but he’s a strong idiot. And we’re going to get him back, I pro-‘

‘No!’, Clary cut him off, squeezing his fingers. ‘Don’t make promises you might not be able to keep.’

Alec dropped her hand, grabbing his cup of coffee.

‘Don’t tell me what to do’, he mumbled.

That got a snort from Clary, but it was okay, because she didn’t look like she was about to cry anymore. The rest of breakfast was spent in silence, but Clary was sitting a lot closer to Alec, their sides brushing every now and then, and he was surprised by how much he didn’t mind it.

Izzy came into the kitchen looking perfectly amazing, as usual, lipstick her favorite dark red and what were comfortable heels for her.

‘Mother is waiting for you in the library, Alec.’

He sighed, finishing what was left of his coffee, and moved to leave. Clary looked like she wanted to join him, but Alec had a wordless conversation with Izzy, asking his sister to take care of the redhead.

All alone, he made his way to the library. He ignored the way every shadowhunter was staring at him, tracking him with their eyes, ignored how hurt he felt because of their looks. Everybody thought he failed. And he did, Alec agreed with them, he miserably failed at keeping his parabatai safe. But his own guilt was enough, he didn’t need everybody else judging him for it.

With a deep breath, he prepared himself for his mother doing exactly that. And she did, Maryse spent the first 10 minutes yelling at Alec, at how stupid he has been in the past weeks, for reasons varying from his wedding to his relationship with Magnus, from sanctioning the Book of the White mission to letting Jace run away with Valentine.

Alec took it all with a straight face and only half paying attention. He had no intention of standing up for himself, not anymore, because his parents weren’t going to be swayed. That much was clear from the anger in his mother’s eyes, and disappointment in his father’s.

But Maryse’s rant was interrupted by a very pale looking Clary, followed by a bleeding Simon and two girls that Alec didn’t recognize. Izzy was there as well, something angry in her eyes.

┐⃝└

‘What is a vampire doing in my Institute?’, Maryse roared.

Clary didn’t even look at her. ‘We have a problem’, she told Alec, but she wasn’t able to go on. Thankfully, Simon took her hand and he also took over the explanation.

'Raphael was kidnapped from the Hotel. I wasn’t able to stop them’, he said very gruffly, clearly beating himself up because of it, ‘but I saw who they were. Circle members.’

Maryse looked like she was going to say something, but Clary didn’t let her.

‘They got Luke too.’, her voice broke over his name. ‘Maya came here asking for help.’

She pointed at Maya, and Alec’s eyes quickly went over her. Then over Lily, Raphael’s second in command, as Simon introduced her.

But Alec didn’t say anything. His expression barely changed, he looked calm and composed and everything Clary was not feeling right now. She hated him a little bit for it. And she couldn’t help but hold her breath, waiting to see what he will do.

She didn’t care about Maryse. Clary really didn’t care about what the older shadowhunter had to say, or about what the Clave had to say, not where it concerned her friends… her family. Jace and Luke were her _family_ , and even if Alec wouldn’t do it, Clary will fight for them. Whatever it takes.

Alec closed his eyes for a second, before pulling out his phone. Nobody said anything as he made his call, but whomever was supposed to be on the other side, they didn’t pick up.

‘Magnus is not answering’, Alec said slowly. ‘They took him as well.’

After he put his phone away, he turned around quickly and he would have punched straight through a wall if it wasn’t for Simon. Because of his vampire speed, he was able to make his way to Alec’s side and stop him, grabbing a hold of his wrist.

Alec turned towards Simon, and Clary gasped at the look she saw in his eyes, because she has _never_ seen Alec look this angry. It scared her.

‘Alec’, Simon said strongly. ‘Punching a wall is not going to help us getting them back.’ He paused before looking away from Alec.

‘Take it from someone who’s already done it.’, Simon went on, a lot more softly than before.

Alec took a few seconds, but he nodded, getting his hand out of Simon’s hold.

‘I’ll inform the Clave’, Maryse said and Clary couldn’t help but flinch, but she looked to Alec.

Who barely spared a look to his mother before looking at his sister.

‘Izzy, you’re coming with me to check Magnus’s place, just to be safe. On our way, I’ll call for a Silent Brother, and see if I can reach Catrina Loss.’

‘Who’s that?’, it was Maya that asked and surprisingly, it was Lily that answered.

‘She’s Magnus’s best friend.’

‘She’s a warlock’, Alec nodded. ‘Maybe she can help track them down. But until then’, he looked to Clary.

‘No’, Simon interrupted whatever Alec wanted to say. ‘I’ll go to Magnus’s place, I’ll be faster.’

Alec hesitated only for a second before nodding. ‘Make sure you won’t miss anything, any clues, anything.’

Simon nodded once before rushing away, and Alec turned back to look at Clary.

‘Why don’t you and Izzy take the girls to the kitchen while I made the phone calls? There’s tea in the cupboards and blood in the fridge.’

Clary frowned, because that didn’t make a lot of sense.

‘Why?’, it was Lily that asked, clearly just as confused as Clary.

‘You’re shaking’, Alec said, oddly soft. ‘And if we’re going to get them back, we’re going to need your strengths.’

‘Alec!’, Maryse’s furious voice boomed. Honestly, Clary forgot she was even there.

Alec turned to his mother, seemingly emotionless.

‘You cannot just-‘, she started, but Alec cut her off.

‘I can, and I will. Call the Clave if you wish to do so, mother, but we all know what they’re going to say. That Downworlders are not our business, and that we should let them handle their problems.’

‘Exactly’, Maryse nodded. ‘We have to-‘

‘I don’t care’, Alec cut her off again. ‘My boyfriend is missing, alongside his friend and the man who raised Clary, the leaders of the New York Downworld factions. I’m going to find them, and I’m going to find Jace, and I do not care what the Clave’s opinion on it is.’

With that, he turned around towards the door. Clary was quick to get out of his way, and so was everyone else. She spared one last look at Alec’s parents, with their angry expressions and betrayed eyes. Clary didn’t say anything else as she turned around and headed towards the kitchen, the rest of the girls hot on her heels.

┐⃝└

Alec came to the kitchen 10 minutes later with a dark skinned woman that was clearly a warlock, because of the weird shape of her nose and ears.

Introductions were made where they were needed, Lily already knowing Catrina, apparently, and they all waited around awkwardly for Simon to return.

Izzy made her way to his brother’s side, not hesitating in wrapping her fingers around his.

‘I’m fine’, Alec said stiffly, and Izzy didn’t even bother to point out the blatant lie.

She knew her brother, knew him well enough to know that right now Alec was only feeling stress and anxiety, that he was scared for the safety of his boyfriend and his parabatai. Izzy also knew that what Alec needed right now was something else to focus on, a rescue mission he could fully dedicate himself to.

Simon came back quickly enough, saying that Magnus’s apartment was a mess with various signs of struggle, that there were a couple of drops of blood but not all of them were from Magnus and that there was a body left behind, a dead circle member.

Izzy’s eyes never left his brother. She watched as a flash of deep hurt appeared in his eyes, and she watched as it was replace with the determination of a leader.

Alec turned to Catrina. ‘Can you help us track him?’

‘I can try’, she sighed. ‘But I’m a healer, Lightwood, I don’t usually have to do this kind of magic.’

‘You’re also the only warlock that can help us.’, his brother pointed out, fairly unkindly.

Catrina huffed and went back to her cup of tea, but she did nod ordering everyone to wait for the Silent Brother. It didn’t take long for him to get there, and it was clear that Catrina was disappointed when he introduced himself as Brother Jeremiah. 

But they worked together, tried to track everyone down. Unfortunately, they were unsucessful.

‘They’re near water’, Catrina all but growled. ‘We can’t find them.’

‘I can’, Maya suddenly said, startling everyone. ‘I mean, my pack and I. If you can tell me for sure that they’re near water, we can spread out and … sniff them out.’

‘That’s going to take too long’, Lily pointed out, making the werewolf turn to glare at her.

‘Well do you have any other ideas, vampire?’

Lily nodded. ‘Let’s split up the waters between your pack and my clan. Vampires are just as good trackers as wolves.’

‘Okay’, Alec said, wordlessly heading to the closest display and pulling up a map. He, Lily and Maya did quick work of dividing up New York. The werewolves got a head start, but the vampires had to wait for night fall.

Alec, Clary and Izzy spent the rest of the day and the next ones searching for their friends through their own means, but they weren’t successful. And Izzy could see Alec and Clary both breaking a bit more with every passing hour.

She wasn’t doing any better, really. But neither of them said a word, and neither of them stopped looking.

It took three days to get the call. The vampires found Valentine, at the docks, on a huge ship. Raphael, Magnus, Luke and Jace were there.

Maryse yelled a lot about how it wasn’t a sanctioned mission, that the Clave forbid them to go out. They ignored her.

Catrina said she wasn’t a fighter, but that she’d come, wait close by for the fight to end so that she could do what she did best: healing.

Brother Jeremiah said he couldn’t go against the Clave’s word, but that he wished them the best of luck.

Without turning back, Alec marched out of the Institute and set up a quick pace to the docks. Izzy and Clary followed.

┐⃝└

If it weren’t for Raphael, Magnus would have no idea how much time has passed. There was no clock in the damp cell they were kept in, no windows for the sun to come through. But the vampire needed blood once a day to survive, so Magnus knew they had been there for three days.

It was a good thing, he thought, that Valentine wanted to keep them alive. But that thought wasn’t enough to soothe Magnus. Not when he was so weak, starving and thirsty after three days with nothing. Not when every bone in his body hurt because of the position he was being kept in, on his knees on the damp floor, chains digging painfully into his wrists, ankles and waist. His magic was bound, and that was what hurt the most.

Luke and Raphael weren’t faring any better. They stopped talking a day and a half ago. At that moment, Magnus was thankful for it, he couldn’t stand Raphael’s insults any more. Now, though, he was almost craving them, because the silence was too damn defying.

And it was interrupted by a bang. A very loud bang, an explosion, maybe?

They shared a confused look, before Luke and Raphael both turned their heads towards the door, looking incredulously at it.

‘What?’, Magnus asked, voice hoarse.

‘My pack’, Luke said, just as Raphael said ‘my clan.’

Magnus’s relief was short lived, because Luke said Clary’s name next. And if she was there, then so was Alec.

Dangerous didn’t even begin to explain it. Magnus couldn’t even realize the importance of the fact that Alec came for him, he was too terrified.

The door to the cell opened, and all of Magnus’s breath left him, because there was Jace, wildly looking at them, blood pouring out of his nose and seraph blade in his hand.

He took a step forward, and Raphael hissed at him. Jace flinched, badly.

‘I’m sorry’, he said meekly. ‘I didn’t know you were here.’

‘What did you think?’, Raphael hissed, ‘That Valentine would have given us some cozy rooms and nice, fluffy beds?’

Jace flinched again. ‘He promised he wouldn’t hurt you.’, he said meekly, no traces of the cockiness Magnus was used to.

Luke laughed at that. ‘And you believed him.’

Magnus couldn’t help but feel pity towards the shadowhunter, because he has been stupid and he has been played. But he felt more pity for himself, by this point.

‘What’s happening out there?’, Magnus asked.

Jake shook his head. ‘Some sort of attack, I don’t know. But it’s an opportunity for me to get you out of here.’

‘You will do no such thing!’, a new voice said, and Magnus wasn’t the only one who flinched back when Valentine stepped into the room.

Jace paled. Valentine grinned at him.

‘How clever you are, my son. To have found them on your own. Good, very good, Jonathan. It’ll make me very proud when you’ll kill them.’

Magnus would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified. The mere thought of dying by the blade of Alec’s parabatai… He shifted, making Jace’s eyes land on him. Magnus froze, looking for something, _anything_ , in Jace’s eyes. Something that will tell him that the shadowhunter will not do it, that Jace wasn’t so far gone that he would do anything his father said.

But Jace didn’t get to answer, because he was thrown to the ground, a black mass on top of him. It took a moment for Magnus to recognize Alec. And it took a moment for him to realize that Alec was punching the life out of Jace.

He looked to Valentine. He was surrounded by Clary, Izzy, Simon, Lily and a werewolf he didn’t recognize. But Valentine was smiling at Clary, saying that he was so happy to have his children reunited again, that the three of them together will do miracles and –

Magnus threw up. He didn’t know if it was his body giving up or the thought of Clary, Jace and Valentine as a happy family.

Everyone turned to look at him, Alec stopped hitting Jace, but Clary didn’t turn. She took out her seraph blade and pointed it at Valentine’s chest.

His expression turned murderous in an instant, and he moved closer, but Izzy was there, her whip wrapping around his ankles, keeping him in place. And then Simon and Lily grabbed a hold of his wrists, pinning them to a wall.

‘Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now’, Clary said in a dangerous voice.

For the first time, Magnus saw Valentine hesitating.

‘Because he deserves a trial’, Alec said to everyone’s surprise. ‘He deserves to see the look of pure joy on every single person in the shadow world, when the Clave will sentence him to a slow and painful death.’

Magnus has never heard Alec speak like that, so cruel and ruthless. Valentine deserved it, yes, but Alec didn’t deserve to be that dark. Alec was light house in a sea of darkness, nobody should ever taint him like this.

Someone else walked into the room then, and once again, everyone was surprised to see Lydia.

She smiled at Alec, fondly rolling her eyes. ‘Could you please stop coordinating unsanctioned missions? I won’t be able to cover for you forever.’

Alec smiled back at her, just a bit. ‘At least we caught Valentine.’

At that, Lydia turned her glare to Valentine. She walked to him, spat on his face and gave Izzy a pair of intricate looking cuffs to wrap around his hands and legs.

Only when that was done, did everyone start to move.

Clary ran to Luke’s side, trying to set him free but unable to.

‘The chains are spelled’, Magnus said and to his surprise, Lily ran out of the room saying she’d get Catrina.

As they waited, Clary cried into Luke’s chest, the wolf taking deep, slow breaths into her hair. Raphael, looking pretty shocked by Simon’s presence there, tried to insult the other vampire, but it was pretty unsuccessful considering how quick Simon was babbling and apologizing.

Izzy went to Jace’s side, and he flinched, really badly. But when she offered to draw him an iraze, Jace started crying, and Izzy let him fall into her arms, gently running her fingers through his hair.

And Alec… God, Alec was trying to get Magnus’s attention. Warm hands on Magnus’s face, Alec desperately saying his name.

‘You came’, Magnus managed to breath out, focusing on the man in front of him.

‘Of course I did’, Alec said quickly. ‘Why aren’t you healing yourself?’

‘He bound my magic, somehow.’ He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling more exhausted than he thought he did.

Alec growled something under his breath, but he also arranged Magnus somehow, held him up so his muscles wouldn’t strain so badly. And thus, Magnus was surrounded with the smell of blood and the cheap laundry detergent the Institute used, Alec’s forest scented shampoo and the spice Magnus always associated with adamas.

‘You came’, Magnus said again, whispering the words into Alec’s skin. ‘You came for me.’

He felt the shadowhunter’s lips pressing onto his temple.

‘Of course I came’, Alec’s voice was calm and soothing. ‘No matter what happens, I’ll always come for you. I promise.’

Magnus sniffed, not really caring about the tears in his eyes.

‘Very few people have ever done that for me.’

For some reason, that made Alec chuckle. ‘I know that, Catrina’s been ranting about it all the way here.’

Magnus had to smile at that, and it got him another temple kiss from Alec. He also started running his fingers through his hair and Magnus, for the first time in three days, he felt _safe_. He was bleeding, his muscles were sore, his ribs were cracked and he couldn’t breathe properly, he was cold and exhausted, he was famished and thirsty, he didn’t have access to his magic, but he was _safe_. In Alec’s arms, with his boyfriend humming a song Magnus didn’t recognize, he was safe.

‘You saved a lot of Downworlders today’, Magnus said, noticing only after the silence that fell over the others. ‘He would have slaughtered us all.’

Alec tightened his hold on Magnus, but it was Izzy that spoke.

‘Not anymore. And never again, if we have any say in it.’

Magnus had no answer to that, because he couldn’t explain in words, how much it meant, how important it was for them, shadowhunters defending the downworlders against one of their own. In his long existence, this might just be the most important moment in downworlder history.

‘Don’t fall asleep, Magnus’, Raphael’s gruff voice broke through Magnus’s haze. ‘I don’t want to hear Catrina yelling for longer that necessary.’

And sure enough, that was the moment she appeared in the doorway, glaring down at Magnus, Luke and Raphael.

‘You idiots’, she seethed out. ‘How the fuck did you let yourself be captured by these imbecils?’

‘Love you too, Cat’, Magnus said at the same time with Raphael. It only made her yells louder, but they were both smiling.

‘Hey’, Alec said strongly. ‘Stop yelling at my boyfriend and start healing him.’

For a second, Magnus thought that Cat will curse Alec, one way or another. But all she did was snicker and spend her entire time in the cell teasing Magnus about his papa-bear boyfriend. He didn’t even mind it.


	13. Alec&Jace, Alec/Magnus: Convalescence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [@ General Zargon](http://archiveofourown.org/users/General_Zargon/pseuds/General_Zargon) wanted _Alec & Jace brotp, with a side-bit of Malec and maybe some hurt!Alec getting cuddles._

As Alec went down to his knees, blood quickly pouring out of his chest and stomach, all he could think about was how the hell did the demon he was fighting manage to turn invisible?

His brain couldn’t move past that one thought, the impossibility of it.

He should have thought about Izzy, about Max. About Jace and Clary, about Magnus. Alec should have thought of his parents and of the Institute.

Instead he thought about how the demon that killed him managed to turn invisible, and he kept thinking about it until darkness overtook him.

≡

He woke up in a daze, head spinning, tears in his eyes because of the pain he felt screaming strongly under his skin.

He remembered, slowly. Going on patrol with Jace. Finding a demon, fighting it. The demon turning invisible. His anger and exhaustion, his frustration of being unable to see his target.

The pain he felt when the claws pierced his body, the pain as his blood poured out. The cold. The unbelievable cold.

Jace yelling his name, the desperation in it, the pain. The level of pain Alec has never heard from Jace.

His parabatai rune burning against the cold.

Alec managed to catch his breath when he realized that he could still breathe, that against all odds, he wasn’t dead.

He took in his surroundings. He was in the middle of his bed in the Institute, the lights were off but the door was open wide, the hallway lights casting warm shadows all over.

He wasn’t wearing anything except for a pair of loose boxers, but there were two blankets over his body. Also, there were bandages. A lot of them, probably stained red.

And Max was sleeping on the foot of the bed. The sight of his little brother all curled up made Alec’s chest hurt, and not because of the open wounds.

‘Hey’, a voice whispered, and only then did Alec realize that Jace was in the room as well, sitting in a chair next to the bed.

‘Pain level?’, Jace asked still whispering, but in a strong, detached voice.

Alec’s throat was too dry to talk, even if he did try. So he settled for lifting 4 fingers up.

Jace narrowed his eyes. ‘Out of 5 or out of 10?’

He lifted 5 fingers up, making Jace swear. It woke Max up.

The little boy startled awake, his eyes growing wide when he saw that Alec was blinking at him.

Max didn’t say anything, but he sniffed twice and crawled over the bed, careful not to touch Alec, until he could lie down next to him, Max wrapping his little arms tightly around Alec’s, pressing his cheek against Alec’s skin.

‘You scared me’, Max whispered, and Alec’s heart broke. He hasn’t seen Max cry in years, and now…

‘I thought you were never going to wake up’, Max went on.

Jace sighed, grabbing a glass of water and helping Alec drink out of a straw. It helped, so he was able to croak out a few words.

‘How long was I out?’

‘Four days’, Jace said softly. ‘And you’re going to be sleeping for a few more, until your body heals itself properly.’ He shook his head. ‘There’s only so much magic can do.’

Of course, Alec thought of Magnus, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Instead, he titled his head until he could kiss Max’s temple.

‘I’ll be okay, promise.’

Max nodded at that. ‘I know you’re strong. But it still hurts.’

Alec wasn’t sure if Max was talking about himself or about the blood still pouring out of Alec’s wounds.

‘You should sleep now’, Max said next, very strongly, the type of strength only a nine year old could have. Still, Alec felt himself going under again, and he was too weak to fight it.

Max didn’t look like he was going to move anytime soon, and Jace placed his hand over Alec’s shoulder, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth.

Alec fell asleep quickly.

≡

The next time he woke up, he was even thirstier than before and Jace was the only other person in the room.

After helping him drink an entire glass of water, Jace sat down next to Alec on the bed, back against the headboard, forcing Alec to awkwardly look up at him.

‘It’s only been about 16 hours since you last woke up’, Jace said. ‘Your wounds are closing nicely, but you’re still bound to be in pain. Right?’

Alec nodded. ‘Just a three now.’

‘We’ve been giving you some mundane painkillers, but they don’t do as much as runes. Still, you’ve been…’, Jace’s voice quivered, surprisingly. ‘Hurt. A lot.’

‘I’m gonna be okay’, Alec said, making Jace nod.

But then he sighed and slithered down on the bed, until he was lying next to Alec, on his stomach, head turned towards his parabatai.

‘You’re not allowed to do that again’, Jace said gruffly, a lot of emotions in his voice, more than ever before.

‘I felt…’, his voice shook. ‘I _felt_ it, Alec. Our parabatai rune going up in flames and your pain. There’s nothing worse in this world.’

Alec couldn’t find any words appropriate.

‘Damn it’, Jace breathed out shakily, wiping his eyes.

‘You died’, he whispered next. ‘For a few minutes, your heart stopped. And so did mine.’

‘I was so cold’, Alec managed to breathe out, and it was the wrong thing to say, because Jace looked pained, shutting his eyes tightly and taking a few deep breaths.

‘I can’t have you gone’, Jace finally said. ‘I won’t make it. And I promise I will do anything in my power to not ever let this happen again.’

‘It wasn’t your fault’, Alec said as strongly as he could, because he knew Jace, he knew he was blaming himself.

Jace smiled. ‘Izzy keeps telling me that.’

‘Believe her’, Alec said, yawning.

‘Okay’, Jace whispered. ‘Get some more rest, alright? I’ll be here when you wake up.’

Alec didn’t doubt it. Before he fell asleep, he felt Jace running his fingers through his hair. It was something that has never happened before, and it was a bit weird. But not unwelcomed.

A few months ago, Alec would have freaked out if Jace would have done this. But now, he tilted his head more into his parabatai’s fingers and fell asleep to Jace’s soft chuckles.

≡

Once again, it was only Jace in the room when Alec woke up next, and he suspected it was nightfall, considering Jace was snoring.

He woke up quickly enough, helping Alec drink water and a cup of lukewarm tea. Alec was feeling better, he managed to stay up longer, and he finally was able to ask Jace what happened after he passed out.

‘Somehow, I managed to call Magnus. It uh…’, Jace shook his head. ‘It wasn’t good.’

Alec had to urge Jace to go on. He started explaining, but not before getting into bed next to Alec again.

‘When Magnus stepped out of the portal and saw you, he… paled, at first. Then he screamed something in a language I didn’t know, shooting a blast of magic to a random point in the air. He killed the demon, even if we couldn’t see it.’

‘And then?’, Alec whispered.

Jace sighed. ‘And then he started crying, knelt down next to you and started healing you, even as tears kept falling on his face. He also called Catarina Loss and said, and I’m quoting here, _I can’t do this alone_.’

It took a beat for Jace to go on.

‘She met us at the Institute and Magnus and her spent six hours working on you.’

‘That…’, Alec shook his head. ‘That must have cost them both a lot of magic.’

Jace snorted. ‘They both passed out when they were done, but they’re okay now, obviously.’

There was a long pause, in which Jace just looked at Alec. But then, he smirked.

‘He’s been here all day, every day. It’s just that Maryse won’t let him sleep here. Izzy tried sneaking him in the first night, but it didn’t work that well.’

Alec winced. ‘Do I wanna know?’

For some reason, Jace grinned. ‘Not really. There was a lot of yelling between Maryse and Izzy, while Magnus just rolled his eyes and held your hand.’

Alec blushed, and it only made Jace grin wider. Thankfully, though, he didn’t say anything else.

‘It’s night?’, Alec asked and Jace nodded.

‘Do you want me to wake Izzy up?’

Alec nodded, and Jace was smiling softly as he left the room. It didn’t take long for him to come back with Izzy in tow, and she was grinning wildly, wearing one of his jumpers instead of pajamas.

She also got next to him in bed, snuggling up to his side, careful not to hurt him.

‘I love you, big brother’, was all she said, but it was enough, it was more than enough.

‘Pretty sure Magnus loves you too’, Jace muttered under his breath, but Alec still heard him.

He just chose to ignore it. He was getting tired, anyway. This time, he fell asleep with Izzy’s hair in his face and Jace sprawled at the end of the bed, by his feet.

≡

Nothing short of a miracle, the next time Alec woke up during the day.

Max was sitting at the end of Alec’s bed, reading out loud from a mundane history book about War World 2. And Magnus was sitting in the chair by the bed, interrupting Max every now and then with an explanation or some additional piece of first hand information.

It took a few minutes for either of them to notice that Alec was awake, but once they did, Max threw the book to the other side of the room and Magnus rushed forward to press a strong kiss to Alec’s lips.

It was not a long kiss by any means, but it gave Alec so much strength, he was actually able to smile at Magnus when he pulled away.

‘How’s your pain?’, was the first thing Magnus asked.

Alec shook his head. ‘A lot better, I’m mostly just sore.’

Magnus huffed, rolling his eyes. ‘I’m inclined to not believe that.’

‘Alec always lies about his pain level’, Max all but sang, making Alec shoot him a death glare.

Max didn’t seem faze by it. ‘Good thing Mrs. Loss said you’re not to get out of bed for another week’.

‘That seems excessive’, Alec gulped.

‘It’s really not’, Magnus said strongly, almost… angry.

Alec stared at him. So did Max.

‘I’m going to go do something else’, the youngest Lightwood said vaguely, all but running out the door and closing it behind himself.

Magnus didn’t move a muscle, staring down at his hands.

‘I’m sorry’, Alec said, even though he wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for.

‘I’m not mad at you’, Magnus said a lot softer than before. ‘I’m mad at the world.’

‘I do know the feeling, yes’, Alec said slowly, before shifting his position a little, so that he could reach a hand and place it over one of Magnus’s.

It made the warlock look up.

‘Thank you’, Alec said slowly. ‘For saving my life.’

‘Don’t ever thank me for that, Alexander.’

Magnus sighed, shaking his head slightly. But when Alec tugged on his hand, the warlock smiled and didn’t hesitate long before getting into bed next to Alec.

It was a first in their relationship, and Alec was already getting sleepy, but Magnus was warm and he moved his fingers over Alec’s bandages, blue sparks flying into them, making the pain go away.

‘It’s a very odd feeling’, Magnus whispered. ‘Thinking you are going to die in front of my eyes, before I could get used to the concept of your existence-', his voice broke, 'shattering.’

Something broke inside of Alec then and he tried to turn around, but his chest protested. Thankfully, Magnus knew what he wanted, so he was the one to move until they could share a proper kiss.

It was desperate, Alec thought. Strong and needy and in moments like this, he couldn’t believe this was his life.

By the angel, in this moment, he couldn’t believe he was still alive.

Magnus was the one to stop the kiss, but he didn’t move very far, le laid on the bed next to Alec, tangling their legs together and gently wrapping an arm around Alec’s waist.

‘I’m not leaving’, Magnus said, ‘not until your mother personally comes in here and drags me away.’

Alec smiled at that. ‘Good.’

He fell asleep to Magnus softly singing _The Bare Necessities_ and sharing body heat.

≡

Jace teased him merciless the next day, because apparently Maryse really did come into the room intending to drag Magnus out, but she couldn’t actually wake him up, nor could she detangle the warlock from Alec’s surprisingly tight grip.

Apparently, Magnus woke up in the middle of the night by his own accord and had to go home to feed his cat.

The story probably shouldn’t have made Alec feel as good as it did.

≡

Recovery was a long and painful process, but thankfully, Alec wasn’t alone for any part of it. And Magnus’s magic really did help a lot with the pain.

≡

After both the Institute doctor and Catarina gave Alec a full bill of health and permission to return back to the field, that’s not what Alec did.

Instead, he got Izzy to cover for him and he spent the night at Magnus’s place. In the middle of his bed, trading lazy kisses and quick kisses and heated kisses and all the kisses Alec wouldn’t have imagined in a million years that he would have.

And in the morning, when he got to the Institute with a bite mark on his neck and a bruise on his thigh, Jace was the only one to comment.

‘I really hope you haven’t popped your stitches.’


	14. Simon/Raphael, Clary/Jace, Alec/Magnus: The Meddling Warlock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [@ahdrling](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ahdrling/pseuds/ahdrling) wanted more of Catarina Loss. These are three relationships that Catarina sticks her nose in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Book spoiler about Jace’s real parentage, but if you don’t already know that … man, where are you living?

**→One: Simon and Raphael**

She honestly thought they were together. Cross and heart and hope to die, Catarina really did think that Raphael was dating Simon.

How could she have known the truth, thought? She’s known Raphael for all of his vampire life, and while it was just a meager tally of 70 years, it was something. And in all this time, she has never seen him be even remotely interested in another soul.

So when she finally met the fledgling at a gathering at Magnus’s place, when she saw how close to Raphael he stood, Catarina was intrigued.

Not because someone appeared to finally notice Raphael for all he’s worth, but because Raphael actually _allowed_ Simon to stand so close, metaphorically speaking.

So she investigated, keeping a close eye on the two of them for the entire night.

Raphael acted like he was annoyed by Simon’s presence, but Catarina knew him better than that, knew that it was all for show. It was evident by the way there was a spark in the older vampire’s eyes, a slight tilt to his lips. The fact that Raphael never told Simon to go away was also important.

Catarina thought they were friends, at first. She thought that Raphael took Simon under his wing, like Magnus did once for him.

But she dismissed the thought pretty early on, when she noticed how much Simon casually touched Raphael, a hand on his back, his fingers trailing down his arm, shoulders brushing and knees bumping. And Raphael, who usually hissed at anyone who touched him without permission (really, Catarina was at the end of that often enough to never try it again), he didn’t even bat an eye at Simon’s antics, he didn’t acknowledge them, but he didn’t dismiss them either.

And Simon listened to Raphael. He listened closely enough to know when to nod, when to ask a question, when to laugh at a dry joke or take an insult with a grin on his face. Simon did more than just listen to Raphael, because Catarina caught it twice, moments in which Raphael would have become angry (in a conversation with Magnus and another one with Clary). But the anger was quickly subdued, by a gentle touch of Simon’s fingers to Raphael’s arm, and a really bad joke from the fledgling.

It was other little things at well, things Catarina would call _domestic_. The fact that Simon knew that Raphael liked a pinch of cinnamon in his blood vodka, that he always made sure he sat by Raphael’s right side, like a second in command should. That when Raphael was having a more serious conversation with other guests, Simon stayed out of it, but still listened. When they sat on a couch, Simon would wordlessly hand Raphael a pillow to shove behind his back. When they sat on chairs, Simon would stretch his feet out so that Raphel could rest his on them.

And so on and so forth.

It was disgusting, Catarina thought, scrunching up her nose. She also sighed, because it was also adorable.

But for all the attention Raphael got from Simon, the older vampire didn’t really give anything back. Except for one moment she shouldn’t have seen, but saw anyway.

Simon and Raphael were in a corner of the living room, talking in low tones. Catarina thought they were gossiping about Clary, because Raphael kept glaring at her and Simon kept looking at the redhead as well, with something soft and loving in his eyes.

Catarina watched as Raphael said something pretty harsh, that she couldn’t catch, but it made Simon sigh deeply, hanging his head. Then Raphael just looked at him for a long while, eyes roaming all over his fledgling’s face. He sighed and in a very controlled manner, put a hand on Simon’s thigh.

Simon jumped at it, eyes growing wide, looking at Raphael with something close to fear on his face. But Raphael didn’t look angry. He didn’t look soft either but it was as close to it as he ever got.

‘Go’, Catarina heard him say. (Okay, so she cast a hearing spell, nobody needed to know that.)

‘You’re immortal now’, Raphael went on. ‘Take your happiness while it’s still available to you.’ He took his hand away and rolled his eyes. ‘Even if it’s from that obnoxious shadowhunter.’

Catarina watched as Simon smiled at that, but he wasn’t smiling at Clary, he was still looking at Raphael, even as he was ignoring Simon.

As he went, the fledgling somewhat pointedly ran his fingers over Raphael’s neck, the skin available between his jaw and the open collar of his shirt. Raphael didn’t react at first, of course, but he blinked twice, slowly, before running his own fingers over the place where Simon’s have been seconds before.

That settled it for Catarina. There was no doubt in her mind that the two vampires were dating, no matter what they called it or not.

So a couple of hours later, when the party was dying down, she made her way to the couch they were sitting on, pushing Simon to the side until she could squeeze herself between the two of them.

She put her feet up in Raphael’s lap (earning a strong glare) and she rested her head on Simon’s shoulder (earning a gasp even if, technically, he wasn’t breathing anymore).

‘Tell me, idiot’, she started, smirking at Raphael. ‘How in all the hells did this other idiot’, she slapped Simon’s knee, ‘manage to make an honest man out of you?’

Raphael raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m always honest.’

Catarina snorted at that. ‘Let me rephrase that. How long have you two been dating and how did Simon manage to warm your icy heart?’

That got a reaction. Oh, and what a reaction it was.

On one hand, she felt Simon gasp again, harder than before.

And on the other hand, she felt Raphael trembling. It wasn’t a shock, it was a long, drawn out thing. And he didn’t stop trembling as he stared at Catarina with something that looked like fear.

He has _never_ looked like that, not since the day he got turned. She knew this, and she didn’t understand it.

‘You _are_ dating, right?’, Catarina drawled out, grabbing Raphael’s attention again.

He slowly let out a long drag of air. ‘No, we are not’, he said, emotionless, before somewhat gently shoving her feet away and getting up from the couch, bolting to Magnus’s bedroom.

Catarina turned, incredulously, to look at Simon.

He was staring after Raphael, and even though he addressed Catarina, he didn’t look at her.

‘I thought I was imagining it.’

‘You really aren’t dating’, Catarina breathed out, more shocked than she should have been.

Simon shook his head, suddenly looking pitiful.

‘But we could be?’

It came out as a question, and it made Catarina roll her eyes and push him off the couch.

‘Yes, you idiot, yes you could’, she told him strongly. ‘Now move your dumb ass after his dumb ass.’

Simon didn’t need to be told twice.

Catarina sought out Magnus and leveled him with a look. ‘Raphael is in love with Simon and I think I just made him realize it.’

‘Oh thank the Angel’, Magnus breathed out. ‘I didn’t think he’d listen to me or I would have said it months ago.’

That was the end of that discussion, both warlocks knowing Raphael enough to know that he needed some time to get his feelings sorted out.

She didn’t see neither Raphael nor Simon for the rest of the evening, but Magnus called her two hours after she left his apartment.

‘On my bed, Cat!’, Magnus wailed. ‘They were naked on my bed!’

She laughed for a long while.

 

**→Two: Clary and Jace**

Catarina’s first reaction to Jace Wayland was the impulse to shove him in a trunk and throw the car off the Brooklyn bridge.

He was everything she despised in a man: horrendously good looking and hurtfully aware of it, cocky and obnoxious. Entitled, with dreams of grandeur and ugh, she really hated his type. Plus, he was a shadowhunter so everything was turned up a notch.

But over the time they were forced by circumstances to spend together, she got to know him a little bit, and Catarina was pleasantly surprised that Jace was able to do things that gained her respect.

The way he was desperate for his parabatai, for one. Jace would throw himself off a cliff for Alec, and when Alec was in distress, any type of distress, those were the only moments in which Jace didn’t hide his true feelings. Desperate to do anything for Alec.

Over the months, Catarina has witnessed this time and time again and while it was an emotional rollercoaster, it was something so strongly beautiful, she couldn’t help but respect it.

Jace protected his other siblings at well, Isabelle and little Max, but he did it without expressing emotions. Still, it was important.

But the thing that made Catarina think she could stop hating Jace happened in the moment he found out his real last name. She was there, as it came to happen, as the Inquisitor noticed his odd scar and explained the mark of a Herondale.

The last name didn’t matter, that much became very clear when Jace’s head snapped to look at Clary. The emotions she saw in his eyes, it made Catarina’s heart beat a bit wilder, which was absolutely ridiculous.

And then Jace had gathered Clary in his arms and there was desperation again, but it was different than it was with Alec.

So different. It was beautiful, this love they shared, and Catarina felt like she was intruding.

Still, in the time that followed, she still didn’t _like_ Jace.

She did like Clary, though, she liked Clary a lot and while Catarina was aware that the love the two teenagers shared was something unworldly, that didn’t mean they were both getting what they deserved.

Jace treated Clary nicely enough, sure, but she’s heard the redhead talking to Magnus, about how they don’t ever seem to have time for themselves, that she doesn’t remember the last time Jace took her out on a date. That every night, they both fell into bed too exhausted to even say “I love you”.

Well that just won’t do.

So the next time they saw each other, when Catarina got a hug from Clary, she put on a little bit of a show. Thankfully, Magnus wasn’t there, so nobody realized she was faking it.

‘What’s wrong?’, Clary said, trying to pull her hands away from Catarina’s hold. She didn’t let her.

‘I’m not sure’, Catarina said, highly affected. Then she lowered her voice. ‘How long has it been since your last period?’

Clary frowned at that. ‘I don’t… uh-‘

Jace came by their side, then. ‘Is something wrong?’, he glared at Catarina, and she resisted the urge to punch him.

‘I don’t know’, she said again, very subdued.

‘I guess it’s been a while’, Clary was still frowning, ignoring her boyfriend. ‘Like six weeks?’

‘Do you think you could be-‘

‘No!’, Clary interrupted Catarina. ‘We haven’t…’, she looked to Jace. ‘We’ve been careful. Right, Jace?’

‘Careful with what?’, he kept on frowning.

‘Sex’, Clary whispered, and Jace’s reaction was hilarious. On one hand, he blushed a deep, deep red, all the way down his neck and up his ears. He also spluttered, something vaguely sounding like ‘yes’.

‘It must be something else, then’, Catarina frowned. ‘You should see a doctor.’

‘You’re a doctor!’, Jace kept on spluttering.

She shrugged. ‘This isn’t really my area of expertise.’

Clary nodded, saying that she will see a doctor, while Jace kept spluttering. Catarina gave Clary a tight, tight hug, saying reassurances, that it’s probably nothing, that she’s going to be okay, but she made sure her words weren’t said confidently.

It was a pretty dirty move, Catarina admitted that to herself. But it will be worth it, if it’ll remind Jace just how much he loved Clary.

Clary kept texting Catarina over the next week. First, she went to the Institute doctor, who didn’t find anything amiss. Then, she went to a mundane gynecologist, who did tests and found Clary had some irregular levels of hormones. She got a treatment, a couple of months of pills.

It wasn’t anything life threatening, Catarina knew this already, but the doctor said fixing this problem will help Clary get pregnant easier.

And that was when Clary freaked out. Now, Catarina wasn’t there to see it, and Clary didn’t text her about it, only after she calmed down. She explained that the thought of bringing children into this world freaked her out immensely, but that Jace calmed her down.

That he was very supportive throughout the ordeal, going with her to every appointment and taking care of her, and that when they actually talked about having children, he was oddly level headed. He admitted to wanting Clary’s kids, but later down the road. When they’d both be ready, when they’d both want it, and he convinced Clary that because of that moment in the future, she should go on with the treatment.

So that the choice will be theirs.

Honestly, Catarina didn’t really expect this good of an outcome from her plan.

And the next time she saw Clary and Jace, saw how he couldn’t keep his hands off her, saw him say _I love you_ before he went to the kitchen to get them drinks, saw the enormous grin on Clary’s face, Catarina thought that yeah, she did good.

 

**→Three: Alec and Magnus**

Catarina didn’t want to like Alec. She wanted to hate him.

Relationships between Downworlders and Shadowhunters weren’t unheard of, but they were extremely rare, and never in a billion years would she have thought Magnus would end up in one.

At first, when Magnus called her, talking about the gorgeous Lightwood boy and his shyness and the way he was afraid of accepting himself, Catarina did hate him.

It was a hard thing to do after she heard the story of Alec Lightwood stopping his own wedding in order to kiss Magnus in front of everyone.

But she couldn’t help but watch him closely. And it was evident that his relationship with Magnus still wasn’t something easy for the shadowhunter.

Magnus kept telling her that when they were alone everything was fine, marvelous, perfect, but Catarina had a problem with the moments they weren’t alone.

It wasn’t that they never showed their affections in public, that was fine by her. But Alec always stood as far away from Magnus he could without it being weird. When his parents came into the room, he literally took three steps back. He never responded to Magnus’s flirting, he never smiled at him, always called him “Magnus” and nothing else, Alec always acted like Magnus was a mere acquaintance.

Catarina hated Alec Lightwood. He respected him, a little, for the brave display he did at his wedding, but she hated the way he treated Magnus. Despite everything, it still looked like Magnus was his dirty little secret.

Over time, things changed. As they grew into their relationship, the PDAs started, a hand held here, a wink there, a kiss on the cheek or a pet name. Alec started introducing Magnus as his boyfriend, he held his hand when the Lightwood parents were in the room, when they were at Magnus’s apartment for a party, Alec didn’t shy away from sitting next to his boyfriend, accepting kisses in front of everyone, and one memorable time, Alec let a slightly drunk Magnus spend the evening sitting in his lap.

Being Magnus’s best friend, Catarina knew that the couple shared their first _I love you_ , she knew the first time they shared a bed and she knew that nowadays, Alec spent at least two nights a week at Magnus’s place.

It wasn’t enough. Maybe she was bias, but Magnus deserved more than that.

So Catarina meddled.

Her first move was, during a party, to accidentally spill her drink, having to request a tshirt to change into. Magnus just waved her to the bedroom and Catarina came out of it wearing one of Alec’s shirts. He blushed furiously, and it was only worse when Catarina leveled Magnus with a look and told him that the shirt wasn’t really in his fashion.

‘That’s because it’s Alec’s’, Magnus rolled his eyes.

Catarina played dumb. ‘I didn’t know he moved in!’

‘I didn’t’, Alec breathed out, red as a tomato.

She continued playing dumb. ‘But your shirts are in his wardrobe.’

Alec stopped being involved in the conversation, but Magnus went on with it, and Catarina didn’t ‘just drop it’. It went on for a couple of minutes, but they stopped when Alec looked like he was having an aneurism.

Catarina didn’t stop there, though.

She got called into the Institute pretty often these days, and every time she left well into the night, she offered Alec a portal to Magnus’s place, no matter who was around to hear it. Alec always refused, blushing furiously, and Catarina made sure to emphasize her disapproval.

She had to send Alec some letters, sometimes. Important Institute business. Catarina sent them to Magnus’s apartment.

One time, when Alec got hurt during a fight and Catarina was the closest warlock available, after she patched him up, she didn’t portal him back to the Institute, but to Magnus’s.

For Alec’s birthday, she got him a very fluffy and warm quilt. That matched the color scheme of Magnus’s bedroom perfectly.

She started calling Alec “Magnus’s flat mate”. He kept denying it.

It all escalated after a pretty boring mission. Once again, as it was over, Catarina offered Alec a portal to Magnus’s place.

‘Why?’, he groaned. ‘Why do you keep doing that? And saying… things?’

Catarina just raised an eyebrow. ‘Because I don’t understand why you keep insisting on living here.’

‘This is home!’, Alec spluttered, before sighing deeply. ‘I’m the head of the Institute’, he didn’t look at her anymore, ‘I _have_ to be here.’

‘You’re an idiot’, Catarina glared. ‘You’re also dating and are head over heels in love with the High Warlock of Brooklyn, so you’re always one portal away from anywhere you need to be. Also, come on, Alec’, she rolled her eyes, ‘how many nights did you actually sleep here last week?’

He looked like he was thinking about it. Catarina knew the answer, it was one. Alec seemed to reach the same conclusion, because his face fell, his mouth opened in a surprised ‘oh’.

Catarina wordlessly opened a portal behind her. ‘Go’, she said, still aggravated. ‘You’ll pack the rest of your things tomorrow.’

‘But Magnus doesn’t-‘

‘Don’t be an idiot’, she snapped. She also pushed him through the portal, and he went, with a yelp.

Later that night, a lot, lot later, she got a text from Magnus.

_You’re a bitch, and I love you. I’m also not living alone anymore._

Catarina grinned, and the next time she saw Alec, she went as far as hugging him.  If she also threatened him with bodily harm if he ever hurt Magnus again, that was her business.


	15. Alec/Magnus: Lights! Camera! Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon wanted a fic inspired by [this post](http://malecshappiness.tumblr.com/post/146597324067/nephilimalecs-malec-au-magnus-bane-and-alec). Alec and Magnus co-star in an action movie. Moments involving five scenes they have filmed for it.

**→One:  The Audition Scene**

Alec was a very anxious person. Which, yeah, was pretty hilarious considering he was an actor.

He did his job, though, no matter how much his levels of anxiety fluctuated through it. He did the red carpets, he went to Comic Con, he did the interviews, the nation-wide broadcasted talkshows, the half-naked scenes, the sex scenes.

He did the auditions, which brought him to this currently peak in his anxiety levels.

Two weeks ago, Izzy (his sister and agent) called Alec with a meeting time and place, but she didn’t really tell him what is what about. Still, Alec went, and met with the producers of a new movie. They didn’t say much about it, just that they were interested in Alec for a particular role.

And now, here he was, sitting in a waiting room of the studios, drinking a cup of coffee and anxiously waiting to be called into the producer’s office for an audition. He still didn’t know what the movie was about, just that it was big. He was also the only person in the waiting room, which was a good thing, he supposed.

When he was called in, Alec was introduced to Magnus Bane.

He knew who Magnus Bane was, everybody knew who Magnus Bane was. Great actor, known for starring in action movies but indie flicks as well. More often than not, he played a gay character and he never shied away from talking about his bisexuality.

He also had an Oscar, while all Alec had was a Teen Choice Awards from the werewolf show he spent three years on.

Also, Magnus Bane was hot as hell. Alec felt slightly weak in the knees, but that might have had something to do with the fact that they were supposed to do a scene from the movie.

The movie which Alec still knew nothing about.

‘We can’t tell you much’, one of the producers said. ‘Not until we’re certain we want you for the job.’

Alec nodded in understanding.

‘So for this scene’, the producer went on, ‘You have met Magnus’s character once before, and now he’s trying to convince you to join him on a… quest. Also, you should know that your character is kind of a bad guy.’

Alec blinked. ‘So it’s an action movie, okay. Is it like… set in Ancient Greece or something, or did you just say _quest_ in lack of a better word?’

The producers didn’t say anything.

Magnus giggled. ‘I like the way you think.’

Alec shrugged, knowing he wasn’t going to get any answers. But he was in no position to ask for explanations, so he read the scene a couple of times and then did he best when he and Magnus went through it.

It was slightly awkward, because the names of their characters were blurred out, so they addressed each other by name. It was also awkward because Alec didn’t know how his character was supposed to be. Okay, he was a bad guy, he could act that, easily, but he was afraid of taking it _too far_. Also, what was his relationship with Magnus’s character? Did they like each other? Did they hate each other?

Alec had a hard time, but he did his best, juggling between the two, guided by his lines and by Magnus’s responses.

Nobody said anything when they were done reading, one of the producers just shut off the camera. Magnus was watching Alec with an unreadable expression.

‘We’ll call you’, Magnus said, and the producers nodded along.

→←

Alec got the call a week later, that he got to play Matt in a movie called “Thieves”, also staring Magnus Bane as Harry. Well then.

 

**→Two: The Meeting Scene**

Alec really liked the script.

It was an action movie, yes, but it was also a comedy. A dark comedy, filled with blood and fights, but it still made him laugh.

He liked his character, and he liked the way the writers and producers would always answer any question Alec had about Matt. They did their best to help Alec understand his character, and he was grateful for that.

They had two months of pre-production before they started filming, time which Alec spent training a little (those three years of being a werewolf kept him in pretty good shape) and learning the stunts he was expected to do, and even some of the ones the producer didn’t want to let him do, at first. But he was good at it, so they relented easily.

Alec also got to know Magnus Bane.

Most of the scenes Alec had in the movie were with Bane by his side, so it was something that would have obviously happened eventually.

But they also had a lot of fighting scenes, which they had to train together for. It was hard, physically, but Magnus was good at the physical stuff, and it wasn’t that hard, socially, because Magnus was a laugh, more often than not a flirt, but it was always done in good humor.

So by the time they had to shoot their first scene together, the first scene they met in the movie, Alec was already comfortable enough around Magnus.

→←

> ‘Hey there’, a smooth voice said behind him, and Matt tensed. He took a few seconds to asses his situation, and it was not ideal. Middle of the night, near empty gas station. The clerk was half asleep, but he could easily see them in the ceiling mirror, and Matt knew that there was a gun under the counter.
> 
> He turned around slowly, still clutching a six pack of beer in his hand.
> 
> Matt was met with an interesting sight. A man about his age but a few inches shorter, wearing leather pants and a sparkly tunic, with pink stripes in his hair and glitter around his eyes.
> 
> ‘I’m sorry to corner you like this’, the man went on with a smile on his face, ‘but I thought this would be a … sufficiently enough non-threatening situation in which I could talk to you.’
> 
> ‘Who are you?’, Matt said gruffly, murder written in his eyes, muscles tense and body looming over the other man.
> 
> The other man giggled. ‘I’m Harry.’
> 
> ‘What do you want?’, Matt went on, even more murderous.
> 
> ‘I want to offer you a job, darling’, Harry answered somewhat mockingly.
> 
> ‘What kind of a job?’, Matt narrowed his eyes.
> 
> The smile grew even wider on Harry’s lips. ‘The kind I know you will excel at.’
> 
> Matt willed himself to relax, but he didn’t take his eyes off Harry. ‘I don’t do that anymore.’
> 
> Harry laughed at that, loud enough to catch the clerk’s attention. He didn’t seem bothered by it.
> 
> ‘It’s not polite to lie, Matt’, Harry winked. He reached into his back pocket and Matt didn’t hesitate.
> 
> In a few seconds, he had Harry pinned to the ground, on his belly, his hands tightly graspet in Matt’s hold.
> 
> Harry laughed. ‘My, my, Matt’, he wiggled his ass against Matt, ‘all you had to do was ask.’
> 
> Matt growled.
> 
> ‘Okay, okay’, Harry stopped laughing. ‘There’s a card in my back right pockets, that’s what I was reaching for. Check.’
> 
> Matt did, but didn’t let go of Harry.
> 
> The card was dark blue with specks of glitter printed on it, and in a stylish, cursive font, there was a phone number.
> 
> ‘I’ll send you the information about the job.’, Harry said, seemingly unperturbed about the fact that he was still on the floor.
> 
> ‘No’, Matt said, letting him go, throwing the card to the ground.
> 
> ‘Yes’, Harry countered, getting up in one smooth motion. ‘You’re going to want to take this job, trust me.’
> 
> He winked and in a flurry of graceful movements, he picked the card up and put it in Matt’s chest pocket. Harry left the gas station whistling, while Matt was still seething angrily.

→←

‘That was great!’, Magnus slapped Alec’s back a couple of times. ‘I like our chemistry.’, he winked.

Alec rolled his eyes, even as he was blushing.

‘Dinner’s on me tonight’, Magnus went on, unperturbed. ‘Tell Izzy you’re gonna be late.’

‘She doesn’t live with me, you know’, Alec couldn’t help but point out.

‘I know’, it was Magnus’s turn to roll his eyes. ‘She lives across the hall from you and she worries when you’re late. So text her!’

Alec sighed. ‘You text her!’, he sounded like a small petulant child, he was aware. But it was just the way Magnus made him feel most of the times.

‘Okay’, Magnus grinned, bouncing away excitedly. ‘I’ll meet you outside your trailer!’

Alec sighed, but he didn’t refuse the invitation.

 

**→Three: The Fifth Fighting Scene**

‘You ready for this?’, Magnus asked him softly, as the director was walking away from them.

Alec nodded, managing a smile. ‘You’re the one who has to die.’

Magnus smiled right back. ‘Yeah, but you’re the one who’s gonna be left behind.’

‘Ready, guys?’, the director’s voice boomed.

Alec and Magnus shared another look, before they both nodded.

‘Action!’

→←

> ‘We can’t outrun them’, Matt panted, as he grabbed a hold of Harry’s hand and pulled both of towards a staircase.
> 
> ‘You think we can evade them on the roof?’, Harry scoffed, but followed him up the stairs eitherway.
> 
> Matt didn’t bother with an answer.
> 
> They were silent for a few long minutes, as they fought the guys coming after them. The roof wasn’t silent, though, the roof was filled with grunts and yelps and yells of pain, with the sound of skin hitting skin, of bones being broken.
> 
> And then Matt couldn’t hear anything but Harry screaming. He snapped the neck of the guy he was currently fighting and turned around slowly, not breathing.
> 
> He had enough time to see Harry mouth his name, as he was shoved over the edge of the building.
> 
> And then, it was silent again, except for the way Matt could hear his heart breaking in his chest.
> 
> There was no expression on his face, no sadness, anger or grief. He killed the rest of the men on the roof. He didn’t flinch while doing it, he felt nothing.
> 
> As the roof was rendered silent again, Matt took a deep, shaking breath and slowly walked towards the edge. He started crying half way through, but he still bent over it.
> 
> There was a broken sound ripped from his throat when he laid eyes upon Harry, limp in a balcony a few stories down. But Matt could see his chest moving, he was breathing.
> 
> He cursed, wiped his face, further smearing blood all over it, and he ran down the stairs.

→←

Magnus followed Alec to his trailer, gushing about how well he acted the scene.

Alec was exhausted and emotionally drained after hours of doing to same scene over and over again, but he thought he did well, and Magnus obviously thought so too.

‘I should shower’, he said, wiping the fake blood off his face with a towel.

‘Do you need help with that?’, was Magnus’s prompt response.

Alec turned around, glaring easily, but his breath caught in his throat when he came face to face with Magnus. Who was standing close, very close, smiling softly.

Magnus took another step forward closing the gap between them even more. ‘That was a joke, it’s way too early for that.’

Alec gulped. ‘Too early?’

‘We’ll work up to that’, Magnus winked, putting a hand on Alec’s upper arm.

Alec stared at it, somewhat confused and overly excited.

Magnus said his name, softer than ever before, whispered in the silence of the trailer, and he squeezed Alec’s arm a bit.

Looking up, Alec gulped again, because Magnus was leaning in.

Alec started leaning in as well, holding his breath, and then-

‘Alec!’, the trailer door burst open, Izzy’s heels clicking against the silence. ‘Come on, you only have an hour before the interviews with-‘

She stopped, when she saw Alec straightening his back and Magnus pulling his arm away, while taking a step back.

‘Am I interrupting something?’, Izzy asked slowly, eyes skipping from one to the other.

‘We were just rehearsing.’, Magnus said easily, smiling at Alec’s sister.

He went away quickly enough, but not before telling Alec he’ll come over in the morning with breakfast.

‘Really?’, Izzy asked when they were alone. ‘I wasn’t interrupting anything?’

Alec blushed all the way down his neck. ‘Nothing that can’t be resumed.’

He hoped.

 

**→Four: The Domestic Scene**

> Matt woke up in a slightly fancy apartment, on Egyptian cotton sheets and to the smell of coffee and bacon.
> 
> Sure enough, as he made his way to the kitchen, Harry was cooking. He was in his pajama bottoms (which was fine, because Matt was only wearing a pair of sweatpants), humming softly to a song that Matt didn’t recognize.
> 
> Harry was also dancing, swinging his hips to whatever song he was singing, as he flipped bacon over.
> 
> ‘Morning’, Matt croaked, making Harry yelp.
> 
> He turned around with a hand to his chest. ‘You scared me!’
> 
> Matt snorted. ‘Some spy you are.’
> 
> ‘Not a spy!’, came the quick response, as Harry turned his attention back to the stove. ‘Also, I’m making you breakfast, you should be nice to me.’
> 
> Matt rolled his eyes, as he puttered around the kitchen, fixing his coffee.
> 
> ‘Do we really have time for breakfast?’, he asked.
> 
> ‘Oh yes’, Harry grinned at him. ‘We’re taking a day off.’
> 
> Matt’s eyebrows rose highly.
> 
> ‘We’ve been at it for weeks’, Harry said a bit softly. ‘We could both use a break and really, one day isn’t going to kill us.’
> 
> ‘You say that…’, Matt tilted his head.
> 
> ‘Don’t jinx it’, Harry rolled his eyes. ‘Nobody’s dying today.’
> 
> ‘Okay then. So uh… what are we doing?’, Matt asked, obviously still confused.
> 
> ‘I haven’t figured out that part yet’, Harry smiled. ‘But we’re starting with breakfast and I know that at some point, we’ll be going to the mall because I don’t know about you, but I am running dangerously low on clothes.’
> 
> Matt snorted, but didn’t comment. Instead, he started making them toast and chopping up the surprisingly fresh fruit he found in the fridge.

→←

‘Do you wanna go out tonight?’, Magnus asked as they were going back to their trailers. ‘I mean, it’s pretty early and we don’t have any more scenes. And we have tomorrow off anyway.’

The thing was, they never went out. Not really. They’ve been together for a couple of months now, but not in public. They haven’t really told anyone, Magnus always saying that it isn’t anyone’s business but their own and Alec always being very grateful for it.

‘What did you have in mind?’, Alec found himself asking, making Magnus grin.

They went to a club, which really wasn’t Alec’s cup of tea, but he didn’t mind it, every now and then. It was good publicity, anyway, and he hasn’t had a good drink in months.

He spent the night glued to Magnus’s side, but being very civil about it, even if they were obviously both frustrated by the fact that they couldn’t really… touch and kiss.

But there were paparazzi’s around, a lot of them. They had to be careful, Alec thought.

That thought kinda flew away from his mind when he ended up with Magnus on the dance floor, arms wrapped around each other and bodies close.

‘Hey’, he said in Magnus’s ear. ‘Why are we… I mean’, he bit on his lower lip. ‘Why are we hiding?’

Magnus kind of froze, but his fingers tightened their hold on Alec’s hips.

‘Because you’re a private person’, Magnus answered, frowning at Alec.

‘That’s the only reason?’

Magnus nodded. ‘I wouldn’t mind-‘

‘Okay’, Alec interrupted. ‘I wouldn’t mind either.’

Magnus’s eyes grew wide. ‘Are you sure?’

Alec shrugged, moved his hands to cup Magnus’s face, and kissed him, maybe with a bit more force than he should have.

They left the club soon after, and Izzy had a minor break down in the morning, when the paparazzi shots went viral and she had to deal with the fallout.  

 

**→Five: The Kissing Scene**

‘We’ve changed the ending scene a bit’, the director said, handing Alec and Magnus the new script.

They were in Alec’s trailer, so they both sat down and quickly read it, easily finding the change.

‘Is this about-‘, Magnus tried, but he was cut off.

‘Nobody cares what the two of you do in your off time. We’ve been thinking about this for a while, but yeah, those pictures gave us the last push we needed.’

‘It doesn’t make sense’, Alec breathed out. ‘There hasn’t been any buildup to this, it’s just going to look dumb.’

Both the director and Magnus were looking at him like he was the stupidest man alive.

‘Darling’, Magnus said sweetly, ‘we have chemistry. And much as we tried to hide it, it’s very visible on camera.’

‘Oh’, Alec said, blushing all the way down his neck.

‘Yeah, _oh_ ’, the director rolled his eyes. ‘Learn your lines, you have an hour.’

→←

> Matt was okay with being in jail. He was okay with the routine of it, the confinement, the rules, the awful clothes and the tasteless food.
> 
> He was okay with it, because it was his decision. He sacrificed himself, so that Harry could run away. His life spent in prison, in exchange for Harry’s freedom.
> 
> So when, a week into his confinement, his cell’s door was opened a bit earlier than usual, Matt didn’t care. He just got up and popped the bones in his back, ready to go to breakfast.
> 
> He didn’t even look up to the guard, they were all dressed the same and acted the same and spoke the same words and-
> 
> ‘Hey there, darling.’
> 
> Matt stopped dead in his tracks, because that wasn’t normal and that voice…
> 
> He gulped when his eyes landed on Harry’s face, who was smiling cheekily.
> 
> ‘What’s happening?’, Matt asked in a shaky voice.
> 
> ‘I’m breaking you out, of course’, Harry easily said, around a grin. ‘Follow me.’
> 
> He grabbed Matt’s hand and dragged him away.
> 
> ‘As soon as we’re out of here’, Matt whispered in hopes of not waking up any of the other inmates, ‘I am going to kiss you so hard your lips are going to bruise.’
> 
> Harry grinned at him over his shoulder, squeezing his fingers.
> 
> ‘That’s going to have to wait a bit, considering our escape vehicle is actually a motorcycle.’
> 
> ‘Of course it is’, Matt sighed, but he was smiling.
> 
> ‘I can’t wait’, Harry said, and it was the last thing either of them said for a while.
> 
> But later that day, in a very small house on the coast of an undisclosed island, Matt did kiss Harry long and hard, leaving bruises behind, not just on his lips.


	16. Alec&Clary: Speechless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I rebloged [this photoset](http://sssssssim.tumblr.com/post/151096737631/morrigans-clary-and-isabelle-when-no-one-is-at) with the tags: #and then alec walks in #stares for a full 30 seconds #and walks back out without saying a word. Anon wanted a fic about it.
> 
> Here are five instances in which Clary leaves Alec speechless. 
> 
> Malec in the background, of course. Mild spoilers for a couple of things in the books. But uh small things. I don't think they count that much.

**→** **One**

Nights off weren’t something that often happened in the Institute. And in the past months, Alec wasn’t ever here whenever they happened because he was at Magnus’s place every chance he got.

But Magnus was in Argentina tonight, on official High Warlock business (Alec didn’t exactly know what that meant, but he had a feeling that he didn’t want to), so Alec was in the Institute.

It was fairly early, barely 11 PM, but the Institute was silent. Some shadowhunters were on patrol, but being a Saturday, mostly everyone was just out.

He thought Izzy would have convinced Clary to go out as well. Jace would have been easily roped into it, Simon too. Alec assumed Izzy would ask him as well, but he figured she knew he was going to say no, so she didn’t bother.

So Alec was positively confused when, while walking down the hallway towards his bedroom, he heard Izzy’s voice, followed by Clary’s.

Honestly, it took him a while, to realize that they were singing. Spice Girls, he knew, he was there when Izzy was a child and obsessed with that nonsense.

Alec didn’t hesitate in going into Izzy's bedroom, the door was open. Maybe he should have hesitated. He definitely should have hesitated.

The girls were both wearing the sort of pajamas babies had, but big enough to fit their size. They even had hoods on, with animal ears. Clary had a fake tail as well.

And they were both in front of a computer, singing and dancing. Like… they were really into it. Shaking their hips and their … asses and singing, properly singing. Off-key, sure, but they were trying their best.

Alec just stared. In shock and horror, second hand embarrassment and so much confusion.

The song ended. Izzy clicked a button on the computer, looked to Clary and started laughing.

Finally, they noticed him.

‘Oh, hi big bro’, Izzy said easily. ‘How long have you been standing there?’

‘A while’, Clary said, ‘judging by how red his cheeks are.’

Alec didn’t take the bait. ‘What… were you doing?’

‘It’s Simon’s birthday next week’, Izzy grinned. ‘He’s gonna love this.’

Alec felt even more horrified by that.

‘What?’, Izzy blinked innocently. ‘It was Clary’s idea.’

Alec turned to look at her. The redhead was grinning wildly, absently playing with the ears on the hoodie of her… outfit.

‘Oh, we should have totally called you to be in the video too’.

Horror. Terror. Nightmare. Hell. Monsters. Horrible.

The girls were both looking excitedly at him, grinning wildly and evily.

Alec slowly made his way out of the room, not taking his eyes off his sister and her evil friend. The girls started cackling, making Alec pick up his pace.

And lock the door to his bedroom.

 

**→Two**

Patrol used to be something easy for Alec. Exhausting‚ sure‚ but easy. Not anymore.

He didn’t have his parabatai by his side anymore and on top of that‚ he had to constantly keep an eye out for Clary‚ because she wasn’t even half way through her training. While she managed fighting decently enough, she still had a lot to learn.

So Alec was distracted with keeping an eye out for Clary while they were fighting these demons. He didn’t see the one coming straight at him‚ he just heard Clary screaming his name and pushing herself in front of him.

She stabbed the demon with her blade and didn’t even get a scratch on her as she saved Alec's life.

He was too stunned to say anything. Too stunned by how she carelessly risked her life‚ too stunned by how she saved his.

‘Izzy’s in trouble’, Clary told him and Alec breathed in quickly‚ knocking an arrow and turning towards his sister.

The fight didn’t last too long after that‚ and they were all exhausted when it was over. They made their way back to the Institute in silence, but once there‚ Alec stopped Clary from rushing to her room.

‘I-‘, he tried unsuccessfully. He couldn’t really look at her, so he looked to her shoes. Alec knew he was blushing and he was frustrated by so many things in that moment, from the fact the he had needed the help and the fact that he couldn’t get the words out of his mouth.

And then Clary started snickering, and he felt even worse.

‘It’s okay’, she said. ‘Don’t mention it.’

‘But I-‘

‘You would have done the same for me'‚ she said strongly.

Alec finally managed to look at her, trying to convey all the words he couldn’t speak through his eyes. She softened‚ somewhat‚ her mocking smirk taking a gentler shape.

'Thank you'‚ Alec managed to whisper.

 

**→Three**

Clary shook her head slightly‚ still smiling. She also hooked the fingers of one hand in Alec's shirt neckline and she pulled.

He was surprised by it, forcefully bending down‚ but Alec was even more surprised by the very sweet kiss Clary pressed to his cheek.

She left without another word‚ sparing a wink over her shoulder‚ making Alec blush even harder.

 

**→Four**

Why Camille kidnapped Alec, it was beyond him.

She wanted to hurt Magnus, sure, Alec understood that. But in the grand scheme of things, he thought Camille had more important things to think about. Like Valentine trying to take over their world, or maybe the fact that she was at war with Raphael and the rest of the New York clan.

Hall hath no fury like a woman scorned‚ apparently. Alec understood that now.

He was shirtless‚ chained to the ceiling of the cave she held him in, legs barely touching the ground. He was covered in blood‚ the chains digging into his skin but also because the places Camille drank from him didn’t seem to be healing.

It wasn’t like he could activate an _iratze_. It wasn’t like he could draw a stamina rune. He could just sit there and take it all‚ willing himself not to scream or throw up.

Alec didn’t tell her anything‚ but it wasn’t like she wanted any information from him. No‚ Camille made her intentions pretty clear from the beginning: pain and suffering for him‚ fun and games for her.

He lost track of time constantly‚ there was very little light in the cave‚ but he knew that it had been a long while since she last visited.

So when a portal opened to his right, Alec steeled himself for Camille. It’s not what he got.

What he got was a wide eyed Clary, in full tactical gear and with her sword drawn. The way she said his name‚ a relieved sigh‚ it made Alec think that he looked a lot worse than he thought.

'She has wards up'‚ he struggled to say around his parched throat. ‘She’ll –‘

‘It’s fine'‚ Clary shook her head‚ starting to work on his restraints. 'The wards won't pick me up.'

Even in his less than sane state Alec realized that was impossible. Clary just grinned at him and promised she’ll explain later.

‘Plus, Magnus is keeping her distracted.’

He frowned at that.

'Don’t get jealous now'‚ she giggled. 'He left with a chainsaw and a torch. And I mean that in the most literal sense.'

'Why are you here?'‚ Alec asked‚ making Clary frown at him, concern clear. She also pushed his bangs away from his forehead, making him shiver.

‘Did she hit your head?’, Clary asked.

Alec shook it. ‘I mean, why are _you_ here?’

‘Why wouldn’t I be?’, she seemed confused now.

Alec wasn’t feeling too up for explaining his thoughts, but Clary seemed to understand them either way, because she huffed and rolled her eyes.

'Honestly now, Alec. This is getting ridiculous. What more can I do to convince you that I actually care for you? That I like you and you’re my friend and I’d be devastated if you’d get hurt beyond repair?'

Alec just stared at her‚ in shock and disbelief.

Clary sighed again, finally releasing him from the chains. He would have fallen to the ground if Clary hadn’t caught him by the waist, lowering him down gently.

She started working on him, drawing healing runes and pain relief ones. They felt… different‚ somehow. He’d have to tell her later.

'How are we getting home?'‚ he hated how weak he sounded.

Caitlin smiled fondly, pushing his hair away from his eyes again.

'I'll make us a portal, of course’, Clary grinned at his shocked expression.

She even snickered a bit. ‘You missed out on quite a few developments.’

‘Clearly’, he drawled out, before finally allowing himself the luxury of passing out.

 

**→Five**

Most days, Alec didn’t think the Clave will ever be accepting towards Downworlders. Sure, each faction had a chair on the Council now, but they were never listened to. Well, almost never.

Every time Magnus spoke, people listened to him. They forgot anything he said after he was done‚ but for a brief moment‚ people did listen.

That’s exactly what happened at this meeting. And three minutes after Magnus said his opinion on the matter they were discussing, the Inquisitor acted like he never said a thing.

‘Excuse me’, Alec all but exploded. ‘But as Mr. Bane explained not five minutes ago, we cannot do what you are proposing.’

The Inquisitor blinked at him. ‘You’re right, of course. I do apologize’, she didn’t look to Magnus.

Alec sneered, but his eyes moved to his boyfriend‚ who was smiling fondly at him. It made Alec feel mildly better.

When the meeting ended, Alec wanted nothing more than to take a portal to Magnus’s apartment and just burry himself in his arms and silk sheets.

Clary stopped them.

She stopped them by standing on her tiptoes and wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders.

'Whoa, biscuit’, Magnus giggled, easily returning the hug. ‘What’s this for?’

Clary didn’t stop the hug, but she turned her head in Magnus’s direction.

‘I love you two a lot, okay? I love you together, and I love you separately, and I respect you an great deal for what you’re doing to our world, how you’re working on changing it. And, guys, I am so glad you two found each other in all this mess.’

Alec couldn’t say anything even if he thought of something to say. There was a lump in his throat that tasted too sweet for his taste. But he did manage to bring a hand up to Clary's hair‚ gently patting it twice.

‘Thank you, my dear’, Magnus whispered. ‘It… it means a lot to us.’

She nodded, letting go of them and wiping at the tears streaking down her face. She kissed Magnus’s cheek and gently punched Alec’s shoulder before turning around and leaving in a whirlwind of red hair and dark clothes.

Magnus grabbed Alec’s hand.

‘Cat got your tongue?’, he giggled at Alec.

‘She keeps surprising me’, Alec admitted, making Magnus smile.

‘That’s not a bad thing, Alec’, Magnus gave him a quick kiss. ‘It’s really not a bad thing.’

Alec agreed, but he didn’t say it out loud. As long as Clary Fairchild kept surprising him like this, things will be alright between Alec and her.

**Author's Note:**

> OF COURSE I HAD TO START ANOTHER DRABBLE COLLECTION  
> that I'll probably forget to update for ages
> 
> anyway. this will mostly be from the tv universe. if anything from the books interferes, I'll let you know.  
> also. this is all [Satan](http://praisethedarkness.tumblr.com/)'s fault.


End file.
